<p class="title">Kim Jong-pil, the founder of South Korea's spy agency whose political skills helped him also serve twice as prime minister, first under his dictator boss and later under a man his agency kidnapped, has died. He was 92.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kim was declared dead on arrival at Seoul's Soonchunhyang University Hospital from his home today, said hospital official Lee Mi-jong. He described the cause of death as age-related complications.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A retired lieutenant colonel, Kim was a key member of a 1961 coup that put army Maj. Gen. Park Chung-hee in power until his 1979 assassination.</p>.<p class="bodytext">After Park seized power, Kim created and headed the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, a predecessor of the current National Intelligence Service, before serving as Park's prime minister, the country's No. 2 post, from 1971-1975.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Park used the spy agency as a tool to suppress his political rivals at home, including then-opposition leader Kim Dae-jung, who became South Korea's president in the late 1990s.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A government fact-finding panel said in 2007 that KCIA agents kidnapped Kim Dae-jung from a Tokyo hotel in 1973, days before he was to start a coalition of Japan-based South Korean organisations to work for their country's democratisation. It was the first official confirmation of one of the most notorious KCIA operations to stifle dissent.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kim Jong-pil didn't direct the agency at the time of the 1973 kidnapping, and 25 years later he joined forces with Kim Dae-jung and helped him win the 1997 presidential election. He served as Kim Dae-jung's prime minister from 1998-2000 under a power-sharing plan.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 2007 panel report did not draw a clear conclusion on whether the kidnapping was ultimately aimed at killing Kim Dae-jung, who said his abductors nearly dumped him from a ship at sea before they stopped when a US military helicopter made a low pass over the vessel. Kim Dae-jung won the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to promote democracy and reconcile with North Korea.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Related to Park by marriage, Kim Jong-pil was his No. 2 man for much of his rule. But after a new military junta led by Gen. Chun Doo-hwan seized power through a coup following Park's death, Kim was accused of corruption and surrendered property worth millions of dollars before moving to the United States.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kim returned to South Korea after Chun, bowing to weeks of massive public protests, allowed a free, direct presidential election in 1987, which marked South Korea's transition toward a genuine democracy. Kim founded his own conservative party and ran for the hotly contested 1987 election to compete with Chun's army buddy and government candidate Roh Tae-woo, Kim Dae-jung and another opposition leader Kim Young-sam.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Roh won the election largely thanks to a split in opposition votes, and Kim Jong-pil placed fourth. The three opposition candidates came to dominate South Korean politics in the so-called "era of the three Kims."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kim Jong-pil had enjoyed a strong support from his home turf in central Chungcheong province and people who valued the rapid economic development during Park's rule. But he never reached a level of support to seriously contend for the presidency and instead became a kingmaker by exercising his political leverage in presidential races.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In 1990, he and Kim Young-sam merged their parties with Roh's ruling party in a landmark three-way merger, which eventually helped Kim Young-sam win the 1992 presidential election. The merger of pro-democracy fighters and former coup members invited long-running criticism that it dampened democracy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">After supporting Kim Dae-jung's successful 1997 presidential bid, Kim Jong-pil and his conservative party members were given several Cabinet posts in the new government. But their coalition fell apart in 2001 because of a dispute over Kim Dae-jung's famous "sunshine policy" of engaging North Korea with aid and exchange programs.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dubbed as "perennial No. 2 man," Kim Jong-pil served as a member of the National Assembly nine times. He quit politics in 2004 after his now-defunct United Liberal Democrats suffered crushing defeats in parliamentary elections."I've been completely burned to ashes," he reportedly said in a retirement news conference.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.</p>
<p class="title">Kim Jong-pil, the founder of South Korea's spy agency whose political skills helped him also serve twice as prime minister, first under his dictator boss and later under a man his agency kidnapped, has died. He was 92.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kim was declared dead on arrival at Seoul's Soonchunhyang University Hospital from his home today, said hospital official Lee Mi-jong. He described the cause of death as age-related complications.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A retired lieutenant colonel, Kim was a key member of a 1961 coup that put army Maj. Gen. Park Chung-hee in power until his 1979 assassination.</p>.<p class="bodytext">After Park seized power, Kim created and headed the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, a predecessor of the current National Intelligence Service, before serving as Park's prime minister, the country's No. 2 post, from 1971-1975.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Park used the spy agency as a tool to suppress his political rivals at home, including then-opposition leader Kim Dae-jung, who became South Korea's president in the late 1990s.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A government fact-finding panel said in 2007 that KCIA agents kidnapped Kim Dae-jung from a Tokyo hotel in 1973, days before he was to start a coalition of Japan-based South Korean organisations to work for their country's democratisation. It was the first official confirmation of one of the most notorious KCIA operations to stifle dissent.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kim Jong-pil didn't direct the agency at the time of the 1973 kidnapping, and 25 years later he joined forces with Kim Dae-jung and helped him win the 1997 presidential election. He served as Kim Dae-jung's prime minister from 1998-2000 under a power-sharing plan.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 2007 panel report did not draw a clear conclusion on whether the kidnapping was ultimately aimed at killing Kim Dae-jung, who said his abductors nearly dumped him from a ship at sea before they stopped when a US military helicopter made a low pass over the vessel. Kim Dae-jung won the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to promote democracy and reconcile with North Korea.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Related to Park by marriage, Kim Jong-pil was his No. 2 man for much of his rule. But after a new military junta led by Gen. Chun Doo-hwan seized power through a coup following Park's death, Kim was accused of corruption and surrendered property worth millions of dollars before moving to the United States.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kim returned to South Korea after Chun, bowing to weeks of massive public protests, allowed a free, direct presidential election in 1987, which marked South Korea's transition toward a genuine democracy. Kim founded his own conservative party and ran for the hotly contested 1987 election to compete with Chun's army buddy and government candidate Roh Tae-woo, Kim Dae-jung and another opposition leader Kim Young-sam.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Roh won the election largely thanks to a split in opposition votes, and Kim Jong-pil placed fourth. The three opposition candidates came to dominate South Korean politics in the so-called "era of the three Kims."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Kim Jong-pil had enjoyed a strong support from his home turf in central Chungcheong province and people who valued the rapid economic development during Park's rule. But he never reached a level of support to seriously contend for the presidency and instead became a kingmaker by exercising his political leverage in presidential races.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In 1990, he and Kim Young-sam merged their parties with Roh's ruling party in a landmark three-way merger, which eventually helped Kim Young-sam win the 1992 presidential election. The merger of pro-democracy fighters and former coup members invited long-running criticism that it dampened democracy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">After supporting Kim Dae-jung's successful 1997 presidential bid, Kim Jong-pil and his conservative party members were given several Cabinet posts in the new government. But their coalition fell apart in 2001 because of a dispute over Kim Dae-jung's famous "sunshine policy" of engaging North Korea with aid and exchange programs.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dubbed as "perennial No. 2 man," Kim Jong-pil served as a member of the National Assembly nine times. He quit politics in 2004 after his now-defunct United Liberal Democrats suffered crushing defeats in parliamentary elections."I've been completely burned to ashes," he reportedly said in a retirement news conference.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.</p>