"The late chairman was a steadfast supporter who worked quietly behind the scenes to lead [South Korea's] democratization movement alongside his father," said the Kim Dae Jung Peace Center.
Born in July 1950 in an air-raid shelter in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, just a month after the outbreak of the Korean War, he helped his father become the country's 15th president in 1997.
During the final years of the Kim administration, he was convicted in a corruption scandal and served time in prison, but later won a 2007 by-election to become a lawmaker.
After his father's death in 2009, he dedicated his life to preserving his father's legacy by establishing the center, but had an inheritance dispute with his half-brother.
His memorial altar has been set up at Severance Hospital in Seoul. Survivors include his wife and two sons.
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