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Asia Buzz: A Meeting With a Great Man
Kim Dae Jung has many useful things to say, but could we make him giggle?
By ADI IGNATIUS
September 6, 1999
Web posted at 10:30 a.m. Hong Kong time, 10:30 p.m. EDT
I had the good fortune to join TIME colleagues in interviewing South Korean
President Kim Dae Jung last week at the Blue House in Seoul. TIME wanted to hear
from him on several key issues: about tension with North Korea, his efforts to
reform the chaebol, his expectations for the coming APEC summit in Auckland.
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The interview went well. Kim spoke of his personal sense of anguish about the
widespread suffering in North Korea. But he cautioned that he didn't think
reunification would be possible before his term in office expires, in three-and-
a-half years.
Excerpts of the interview are in this week's issue of TIME Asia, which hits the
newsstands starting today. By tomorrow, a greatly extended version will be
posted online.
Kim is a challenging interview. His record as one of our era's champions of
human rights is unassailable. He has stared down death at the hands of his
tormentors several times, yet seems to lack any sense of vindictiveness. He is
consistently the most progressive member of his administration, and his ethics
are beyond suspicion.
And yet his demeanor is uncommonly stiff. He sits impassively in his padded
chair and scarcely moves a muscle. His hands fall limply on the armrests; they
aren't any part of his body language. It's hard to connect on any kind of a
personal level with Kim, even with an intimate knowledge of his impressive track
record.
Before the interview, I had decided with my colleagues Stella Kim and Donald
Macintyre, to see if we could make Kim laugh. Surprisingly, we succeeded. Twice.
The first time was when we asked if he ever felt he was alone in fighting for
economic reform. With a laugh, a very weary kind of laugh, he said: Yes.
But the second yuk-yuk occurred when we looked him in the eye and, with mock
seriousness, asked: "On the subject of APEC, aren't you worried about the funny
shirts they always make you guys wear for the photo-ops?"
With that Kim erupted in a deep guffaw. His answer was classic: "As the old
saying goes, when in Rome do as the Romans do." Then, waiting a beat with great
comic effect, he deadpanned: "But I must admit that it's rather uncomfortable."
O.K., he's not ready for the Tonight Show. But we felt we had met Kim the man.
And we liked him.
TIME Asia home
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