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So when the U.N. made a resolution and asked us to send troops to East Timor, we took this as a responsibility that we must take, and also this was to repay them for their favors. As for the secretary-general's statement that when there is a conflict between human rights and the sovereign right, that sometimes the human rights can override the sovereign right, I think in principle that is right, because before we had nations, we had God-given human rights.

— Kim Dae-jung

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "So when the U.N. made a resolution and asked us to send troops to East Timor, we took this as a responsibility that we must take, and also this was to repay them for their favors. As for the secretary-general's statement that when there is a conflict between human rights and the sovereign right, that sometimes the human rights can override the sovereign right, I think in principle that is right, because before we had nations, we had God-given human rights." in the context of ""Interview with President Kim Dae-jung" in Washington Times (8 November 1999)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Kim Dae-jung" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Kim Dae-jung

About Kim Dae-jung

Kim Dae-jung (6 January 1924 – 18 August 2009) was the 8th President of South Korea from 1998 to 2003, and the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.