Mr Kim was taken to hospital with a fever and died of a blood infection and heart failure on Sunday morning.
For decades, Mr Kim fought against military rulers and pushed for democratic reform.
For his part in the pro-democracy movement, he was placed under house arrest twice in the 1980s.
He then served as president from 1993 to 1998, during which, two generals-turned-presidents were indicted on mutiny and treason charges stemming from a coup.
Kim pardoned the two convicted military strongmen - Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo - at the end of his term.
During Mr Kim's presidency, military tensions created a cloud over the Korean peninsula. North Korea threatened to withdraw from the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and began removing spent fuel from its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, which could be reprocessed into weapons-grade plutonium.
According to AP, at one point the US military drew up plans for a strike against a North Korean nuclear facility, but Mr Kim opposed it, sure that it would lead to a full-scale conflict.
Former US President Jimmy Carter brokered a deal under which the North agreed to freeze and eliminate its nuclear facilities, but that deal collapsed in 2002.
SOurce BBc
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