Kim Dae-jung, the former president of South Korea, has died at the age of 83, hospital sources say.

医院来源消息称，韩国前总统金大中逝世，享年83岁。

Mr Kim, who was being treated for pneumonia¹（肺炎）, was reported to have died after suffering heart failure.

The former leader had spent his life pursuing democracy and reunification with the North.

He survived several attempts on his life and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his "Sunshine" policy efforts to improve ties with Pyongyang.

Mr Kim was declared dead at 1.43pm local time (0443 GMT), the AFP news agency quoted a spokesman at the Severance² hospital in Seoul as saying.

"His heart began failing at 1.35 pm and stopped minutes later despite our efforts to revive it," said the spokesman.

Mr Kim was branded a dangerous radical³（激进分子） during South Korea's decades of military rule.

He survived several assassination⁴ attempts, was sentenced to death, and tortured in jail. He was exiled twice and put under house arrest countless⁵ times.

He made history when he was elected to the presidency⁶ in December 1997 on his fourth attempt - the first peaceful transfer of power from a ruling to an opposition⁷ party since the country was founded in 1948.

He remained president until he stepped down in 2003.

In 2007, South Korea's spy agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), admitted to having abducted⁸（诱拐，绑走） Mr Kim in 1973, with tacit（心照不宣的） backing from then leader Park Chung-hee.

The report said there was some evidence to suggest the kidnap was initially⁹ planned as an assassination attempt.