Former S.Korea president Kim Dae-jung dies

Seoul (ANTARA News/AFP/Reuters) - Former South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung died Tuesday at the age of 83, a hospital spokesman said.

"He was declared dead at 1:43 pm (0443 GMT)," a spokesman for Seoul`s Severance Hospital told AFP. "His heart began failing at 1:35 pm and stopped minutues later despite our efforts to revive it."

Kim Dae-jung won the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering the first summit between leaders of the rival Koreas. Reports said he died of heart failure.

Kim was a towering figure in South Korea`s struggle for democracy, best known internationally for his 2000 meeting in Pyongyang with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il which helped warm ties between the two states that have not yet officially ended their 1950-53 war.(*)