Back Kim Young-sam Afrikaans كم يونغ سام Arabic كم يونج سام ARZ Kim Young-sam AST Kim Young-sam BCL Кім Ён Сам Byelorussian Kim Young-sam Catalan Kim Jong-sam Czech Kim Young-sam Welsh Kim Young-sam Danish
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Kim Young-sam | |
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김영삼 | |
 Official portrait, 1993 | |
| 7th President of South Korea | |
| In office 25 February 1993 – 24 February 1998 | |
| Prime Minister | Hwang In-sung Lee Hoi-chang Lee Yung-dug Lee Hong-koo Lee Soo-sung Goh Kun |
| Preceded by | Roh Tae-woo |
| Succeeded by | Kim Dae-jung |
| President of the New Korea Party | |
| In office 28 August 1992 – 30 September 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Roh Tae-woo |
| Succeeded by | Lee Hoi-chang |
| President of the Reunification Democratic Party | |
| In office 12 May 1988 – 22 January 1990 | |
| Preceded by | Kim Myung-yoon |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished (party merger into DLP) |
| In office 1 May 1987 – 8 February 1988 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Kim Myung-yoon |
| President of the New Democratic Party | |
| In office 7 June 1979 – 27 October 1980 | |
| Preceded by | Lee Chul-seung |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished (party dissolution) |
| In office 21 August 1974 – 21 September 1976 | |
| Preceded by | Kim Eui-taek |
| Succeeded by | Lee Chul-seung |
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| In office 30 May 1992 – 13 October 1992 | |
| Constituency | Proportional Representation |
| In office 30 May 1988 – 29 May 1992 | |
| Constituency | Seo (Busan) |
| In office 29 July 1960 – 4 October 1979 (expelled) | |
| Constituency | Seo (Busan) |
| In office 31 May 1954 – 30 May 1958 | |
| Constituency | Geoje (South Gyeongsang) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 December 1927 Geoje, Geojedo, Keishōnan-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan |
| Died | 22 November 2015 (aged 87) Seoul, South Korea |
| Resting place | Seoul National Cemetery |
| Political party | See list
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| Spouse | |
| Children | 6 |
| Alma mater | Seoul National University (BA) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  South Korea |
| Branch/service |  Republic of Korea Army |
| Rank | Student officer |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 김영삼 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Gim Yeongsam |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kim Yŏngsam |
| Art name | |
| Hangul | 거산 |
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Geosan |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kŏsan |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Conservatism in South Korea |
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| This article is part of a series on |
| Liberalism in South Korea |
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Kim Young-sam (Korean: 김영삼; Hanja: 金泳三, pronounced [kim.jʌŋ.sam]; 20 December 1927 – 22 November 2015), often referred to by his initials YS, was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the seventh president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998.
From 1961, he spent almost 30 years as one of the leaders of the South Korean opposition, and one of the most powerful rivals to the authoritarian regimes of Park Chung Hee and Chun Doo-hwan. He was elected to the National Assembly at the age of 25, the youngest person in Korean history, and served as a nine-term lawmaker, working as a leader with Kim Dae-jung and the democratic camp. His nickname is Geosan (巨山) and his hometown is Gimnyeong (金寧). Elected as president in the 1992 presidential election, Kim became the first civilian to hold the office in over 30 years. He was inaugurated on 25 February 1993, and served a single five-year term, presiding over a massive anti-corruption campaign, the arrest of his two predecessors, and an internationalization policy called Segyehwa.
At the final years of his presidency, Kim had been widely blamed for the collapse of the Seongsu Bridge and the Sampoong Department Store and the downturn and recession of the South Korean economy during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which forced South Korea to accept tens of billions of dollars in unpopular conditional loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This caused him to have one of the lowest approval ratings of any incumbent president in the history of South Korea at 6%, from a historical high of 97%, until Park Geun-hye surpassed Kim at 1–3% during the political scandal in 2016. After his death, however, he has seen a moderately positive reevaluation.