Seoul, Aug 18 (DPA) Nobel laureate and former South Korean president Kim Dae Jung, 83, died Tuesday, the Yonhap news agency said, quoting hospital sources.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate died at 1.42 p.m. (0442 GMT), after battling pneumonia, Seoul's Severance Hospital said. He had been hospitalised since July 13 and underwent surgery in late July.

South Korea's president from 1998 to 2003, Kim was crucial in promoting the country's 'Sunshine Policy' aiming at a detente with North Korea. In 2000, he participated in the first North-South summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

South Korea's space agency said it may postpone the country's first space rocket launch scheduled for Wednesday because of Kim's death.