Will devote rest of life to world peace, national reconciliation: Kim

President Kim Dae-Jung received the first Nobel Peace Prize of the new millennium at 9:00, Sunday evening for his efforts to champion human rights and democracy in East Asia and for his contribution to promoting peace and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula. The prize was given in an award ceremony at City Hall in Oslo, Norway.

During the ceremony, President Kim accepted the gold medal, which contains the inscription in Latin of the words ¡°for the peace and brotherhood of men,¡± a diploma from Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairman Gunnar Berge and a cash prize of 9 million kroner (about 1.2 billion won).

The 90-minute ceremony was attended by Norwegian King Harald V as well as about 1,100 foreign diplomatic mission chiefs and other invited guests.

After receiving the prize and becoming Korea¡¯s first Nobel laureate, the President said the Nobel Peace Prize represents a noble message of encouragement to all humankind to devote themselves to peace.

¡°I shall give the rest of my life to human rights and peace in my country, and the world and to the reconciliation and cooperation of my people,¡± he proclaimed.

Kim also said that the inter-Korean summit talks were a very difficult process, but that he and North Korea¡¯s National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-Il, succeeded in producing an agreement that put the two countries in a position to ensure security, reconciliation and cooperation on the Korean peninsula.

President Kim noted that the 21st century, as the information era, is a time when wealth will grow rapidly but also one in which the gap between the rich and the poor will expand quickly.

¡°We have to remove the obstacles hampering human rights and peace by solving the digital divide, a new phenomenon stemming from informationization, in the alienated class and developing countries,¡± the President stressed. Prior to the 25-minute ¡°lecture¡± Kim gave during the award ceremony, Chairman Berge said the President was promoting a positive cooperative relationship with North Korea through his ¡°Sunshine Policy.¡±

Berge said that President Kim had contributed more than anybody else to thawing the Cold War tension on the Korean Peninsula.

In his speech explaining the reasons for the committee¡¯s choice of Kim as this year¡¯s Peace Prize winner, Berge also said that the international community could not look on with indifference as North Koreans starve or keep silent about the enormous political suppression in the communist nation.

But he recognized North Korean leader Kim¡¯s peace efforts, noting that he deserves recognition for his role in helping South and North Korea take the first step toward inter-Korean reconciliation.

On his way to City Hall to receive the prize, President Kim participated in the Flame for Peace Campaign and met with 2,000 Norwegian children. He read a message of peace that said children are the hope and future of humankind.

He also attended a luncheon hosted by King Harald V and a dinner hosted by the Nobel Committee, and expressed his gratitude for Norway¡¯s support for peace efforts on the Korean peninsula.

To congratulate this year¡¯s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, thousands of citizens held a torchlight procession in downtown Oslo and the serenaded by national flags of the Republic of Korea and Norway decorated the streets.