Moon Jae-in
Moon Jae-in is a prominent South Korean politician and former human rights lawyer who served as the president of South Korea from May 2017 to May 2022. Born on January 24, 1953, in a refugee camp, he is the son of parents who fled North Korea during the Korean War. Moon's early involvement in social activism began in high school and intensified during his university years, leading to his expulsion and imprisonment under the authoritarian regime of then-president Park Chung-hee. He became a key figure in the pro-democracy movement alongside his friend Roh Moo-hyun, eventually serving as Roh's chief aide and chief of staff during Roh's presidency.
As president, Moon focused on fostering peaceful relations with North Korea and addressing domestic economic inequality. His administration is noted for initiating dialogue with the North, including historic summits with Kim Jong-un and efforts to reduce tensions on the peninsula. Despite facing challenges, including a pandemic and political scandals, Moon's leadership helped enhance public trust in the government and resulted in significant electoral victories for his party. By the time he left office, he was recognized as one of South Korea's most popular leaders, having implemented substantial reforms and maintained a notable international presence. Moon’s memoir, published in 2024, further details his journey and perspectives on his leadership experiences.
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Moon Jae-in
President of South Korea
- Born: January 24, 1953
- Place of Birth: Geoje Island, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, South Korea
Education: Kyung Hee University
Significance: A former student activist and human rights lawyer, Moon Jae-in was elected president of South Korea in May 2017. As president, he worked to develop a peaceful relationship with North Korea and achieve a more economically just society in South Korea.
Background
The oldest son of five children born to refugee parents, Moon Jae-in was born on January 24, 1953, in a refugee camp on Geoje Island in Gyeongsangnam-do Province, South Korea. His parents had fled the Communist regime in North Korea in December 1950 as part of a United Nations evacuation. Moon spent his early childhood on Geoje, where his mother worked as an egg seller, and his father worked at a prisoner-of-war camp. The family moved to the city of Busan, South Korea, shortly before he started school. He attended Gyeongnam Middle School and Gyeongnam High School.
Moon began his social activism in high school when he participated in a 1969 protest of then-president Park Chung-hee’s plan to revise the nation’s constitution so he could remain in power. After his 1971 high school graduation, Moon enrolled in the Kyung Hee University College of Law. In October 1972, Park declared military law and released the Yushin constitution. Moon joined in student demonstrations and, by 1975, was leading protests against Park’s government. He was expelled from school and briefly imprisoned.
By 1976, Moon had been conscripted into the army’s special forces, where he was a member of the airborne troops. Among other missions, he took part in the response to the notorious axe murder of two US troops by North Korea. After his discharge, he rejoined the pro-democracy movement and also studied for the bar exam, which he passed in 1980. Moon then trained at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, graduating second in his class in 1982. However, his protest history prevented him from entering the judiciary.
Life’s Work
In 1982, Moon and lawyer Roh Moo-hyun established their own law firm in Busan. They focused on human rights and civil rights cases, handling cases for democracy activists and poor workers involved in labor and wage disputes. They became close friends and leaders in the pro-democracy movement. In 1987, after South Korea held its first democratic election, Roh left the law firm, believing politics was the best route for effecting democratic change, while Moon stayed with the firm to fight for social justice through the court system.
In 2002, Roh ran for president of South Korea, and Moon joined his campaign as an adviser and election countermeasures office chief. After Roh won the election and took office in 2003, Moon became his close aide and adviser. He worked as the senior secretary to the president for civil affairs in 2003 and, after a brief absence, returned to government the next year as senior secretary for the civic and social agenda. In 2004, Moon helped to successfully defend Roh against an impeachment motion alleging campaign violations. The next year he resumed the civil affairs secretary post. In 2007 Moon became the president’s chief of staff, serving for the rest of the administration’s term into 2008.
After Roh committed suicide in 2009, Moon served as the director of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation. Committed to achieving his and Roh’s vision to make a better world, Moon entered politics in 2012 despite his previous reluctance to do so. He won a seat in parliament for Busan in the general elections but narrowly lost his bid for the presidency as the Democratic United Party candidate later that year. He became the standing adviser of the Democratic United Party in 2013 and its chair in 2015.
On March 24, 2017, Moon announced he was again running for president. The country was in a political crisis as Park Geun-hye, who had defeated Moon in the 2012 presidential election, had been removed from office two weeks earlier and imprisoned on corruption charges. Moon ran on a promise to unite the county and end the nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. He also focused on job growth, improving the economy, and reducing social inequality and corruption, especially within family-run conglomerates, or chaebol. After North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un conducted several tests of its new ballistic missiles and US President Donald Trump threatened to demonstrate US military supremacy, the nuclear threat, and foreign relations came to dominate the campaign.
Moon won the May 9, 2017, election with 41 percent of the votes in a field of five candidates. He was sworn in the next day. He called Trump that same day to engage him in efforts to reduce tensions with North Korea. He later communicated with Kim for the same purpose. In July 2017, Moon created a road map to peace for the Korean Peninsula.
In the first years of his presidency, Moon appeared to make significant progress in his goal of unifying South Korea and restoring the public’s confidence in the government. He created a five-year plan to address the country’s domestic issues and also played an important role on the international stage, participating in economic forums and other cooperative efforts. Perhaps most notably, he made headway in improving relations with North Korea. The inclusion of a North Korean delegation of officials and athletes at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, was seen as a notable step in this direction. On April 27, 2018, Moon and Kim Jong-un held a historic summit, the first time a North Korean leader had entered South Korea since the Korean Peninsula’s 1945 division. Moon also helped to negotiate a groundbreaking meeting between Kim and Trump.
However, negotiations with North Korea made little progress in 2019. After the Kim-Trump talks failed to produce solid results, the US government pressured South Korea to take on more of the cost of keeping up the US military presence on the Korean peninsula; Moon eventually agreed but at a much smaller amount than originally demanded. A scandal involving his justice minister damaged Moon's popularity, as did economic struggles. Then South Korea was hit by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic, and Moon's approval ratings dropped further as the country appeared on track to be one of the first hotspots of the disease outside China in February 2020. However, Moon took quick and aggressive steps to curb the spread of the virus, an approach that proved highly successful. South Korea's public health response was widely praised by international experts, and the success provided a major boost to Moon and his Democratic Party. In the April 2020 midterm election, the Democratic coalition won the biggest majority in the country since 1987, with 180 of 300 seats in the legislature.
Moon used his popularity to implement a series of reforms in December 2020, many of which focused on worker’s rights. When he left office in May 2022, South Korea was exceedingly economically sound, with low unemployment, gains in health care, and environmental policies in place. Relations with North Korea, however, remained precarious. Still, Moon left office as one of the most popular political leaders in the history of South Korea. Moon published his memoir, From the Periphery to the Center, in May 2024. The release of his memoir was a day after North Korea launched a tactical ballistic missle with a new autonomous navigation system. The United States condemned the action. Moon's 650-page book became a bestseller in South Korea.
Impact
An influential figure in South Korean politics throughout his career, Moon Jae-in gained even greater international importance as president of the country. Elected at a particularly challenging time for South Korea, his leadership was credited with both restoring the government's domestic image and calming tensions with North Korea. Due to his key geopolitical role, Moon was named one of the hundred most influential people of 2018 by Time magazine. After stepping down in 2022, Moon was declared one of the most popular leaders in South Korean history.
Personal Life
Moon and Kim Jung-sook married in March 1981. They had a son and daughter together. Moon was known to enjoy hiking and music. In 2011 he published his memoir, Moon Jae-in: The Destiny.
Bibliography
Atsuhito, Isozaki. "Reading Moon Jae-in's Memoirs." The Diplomat, 2 July 2024, thediplomat.com/2024/07/reading-moon-jae-ins-memoirs/. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
Campbell, Charlie. “The Negotiator.” Time, 4 May 2017, time.com/4766618/moon-jae-in-the-negotiator/. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
Choe, Sang-Hun. “South Korea’s New President, Moon Jae-in, Promises New Approach to North.” The New York Times, 10 May 2017, HYPERLINK "https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/world/asia/moon-jae-in-president-south-korea.html" www.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/world/asia/moon-jae-in-president-south-korea.html. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
Le, Jasmine. “President of Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in: Biography, Early Life, Career and Facts.” Vietnam Times, 26 Sept. 2021, vietnamtimes.org.vn/president-of-republic-of-korea-moon-jae-in-biography-early-life-career-and-facts-36195.html. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
Lee, Jung-ae. “Who Is Moon Jae-in?” Hankyoreh,4 Apr. 2017, english.hani.co.kr/arti/english‗edition/e‗national/789246.html. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
Park, Hong-du. “Moon Jae-in, the Presidential Candidate of the Democratic United Party.” The Kyunghyang Shinmun, 17 Sept. 2012, english.khan.co.kr/khan‗art‗view.html?artid=201209171404337&code=710100r/images/onebyone.gif?action‗id=1ce25c8378f91028d5183712468f17e" \* MERGEFORMATINET /. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
Park, S. Nathan. “The Man behind the North Korea Negotiations.” The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2018, NK "http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/moon-jae-in-south-korea-north-korea/555338/" www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/moon-jae-in-south-korea-north-korea/555338/. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024..
“President: Profile.” Office of the President, The Republic of Korea Cheong Wa Dae, english1.president.go.kr/President/Profile. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
"South Korea Election: Ruling Party Wins Amid Coronavirus Outbreak." BBC News, 16 Apr. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52304781. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
“South Korean Ex-president Moon Jae Bedeviled by Protests.” UCA News, 8 Dec. 2022, www.ucanews.com/news/south-korean-ex-president-bedevilled-by-protests/99670. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.