Kim Dae Jung, President of South Korea, arrived in Washington to meet with President Clinton and speak before a joint session of Congress. Following a background report, Jim Lehrer speaks with President Kim about his country's relations with North Korea and the current Asian economic crisis.

CHARLES KRAUSE: The inauguration of Kim Dae Jung as president of South Korea last February marked an historic transfer of power for the first time in the country's 50-year history. A candidate won who opposed South Korea's ruling conservative groups. A well-known dissident, Kim Dae Jung had been kidnapped, imprisoned, and exiled for his opposition to military rule and his support of democracy. In his acceptance speech, he promised political and economic reform.

KIM DAE JUNG: (speaking through interpreter) The historic significance of today's inaugural ceremony is great. Today is a proud day when a democratic transition of power is taking place on this soil for the first time. Moreover, it is a historic day when a government is being born that embraces both democracy and the economy as the nation's goals.

CHARLES KRAUSE: Kim's election came at a time of severe economic crisis in South Korea. The industrial powerhouse suddenly had to deal with a falling currency, and some of its big conglomerates and banks going bankrupt. In return for a $58 billion bailout, the International Monetary Fund demanded economic reforms, including measures that resulted in the layoff of workers. Two weeks ago thousands of South Koreans took to the streets in protest. It wasn't the first time that the president has faced a difficult situation.

Born into modest circumstances nearly 73 years ago, when Korea was still under Japanese rule, Kim started a shipping company as a young man, which quickly made him a fortune. He entered politics in the 1950's as an opposition figure. After ten years in the national assembly, Kim ran for president in 1971. His passionate speeches made him a popular candidate, and he narrowly lost the election. A few years later, Kim was kidnapped by South Korean intelligence police while he was staying in Japan. He was put on a ship and--by his account--tied to concrete weights in preparation for being thrown overboard.

He was released after behind-the-scenes intervention by the U.S. Government and, in particular, the CIA. In 1981 the new military government arrested Kim and sentenced him to death for alleged subversive political activities. The Carter and Reagan administrations, as well as human rights groups, protested. And Kim's death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment. Kim was eventually exiled to the United States. He received a fellowship to Harvard, spoke out for democracy to Korean communities around the United States, and wrote a book about the Korean economy.

Kim returned to South Korea in 1985, and was put under immediate house arrest, which continued off and on until 1987. That year he again ran for the presidency and, again, he lost. In 1992 Kim ran for the presidency for the third time, losing to Kim Young Sam, and announced he was retiring from politics. But three years later he was back leading a newly created opposition party, and on his fourth try for the presidency in 1997, he won.