Page "Kim Dae-jung" Paragraph 12

The situation became favorable for him when the public revolted against the incumbent government in the wake of the nation's economic collapse in the Asian financial crisis just weeks before the presidential election.

Allied with Kim Jong-pil, he defeated Lee Hoi-chang, Kim Young-sam's designated successor, in the election held on 18 December 1997.

When he was sworn in as the eighth President of South Korea on 25 February 1998, it marked the first time in Korean history that the ruling party peacefully transferred power to a democratically elected opposition victor.

The election was marred with controversy, as two candidates from the ruling party split the conservative vote ( 38. 7 % and 19. 2 % respectively ), enabling Kim to win with only 40. 3 % of the popular vote.

Kim's chief opponent, Hoi-chang, was a former Supreme Court Justice and had graduated at the top of his class from Seoul National University School of Law.

Lee was widely viewed as elitist and his candidacy was further damaged by charges that his sons dodged mandatory military service.

Kim's education in contrast was limited to vocational high school, and many Koreans sympathized with the many trials and tribulations that Kim had endured previously.