South Korean President Kim Young-sam waves after arriving in Vancouver for the APEC Summit in this November 22, 1997 file photo. Kim died early on November 22, 2015 at the age of 87. Photo: Reuters

Kim was taken to hospital with a fever and died of a blood infection and heart failure on Sunday morning.

For decades, 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 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 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.