Moon Jae-in, a left-leaning former human rights lawyer, won a clear victory in South Korea’s presidential election on Tuesday, with more than 41 per cent of the vote in the single-round system with no minimum threshold for victory. He defeated his two main rivals – Hong Joon-pyo of the conservative Liberty Korea party and Ahn Cheol-soo, a centrist candidate who represented the People’s party. Voter turnout was 77 per cent, the highest in two decades. Mr Moon was officially sworn in soon after winning the vote.
South Koreans went to the polls two months after former president Park Geun-hye was removed from office over accusations of corruption, influence-peddling and cronyism in the presidential Blue House. She is now standing trial on charges of bribery and abuse of power, becoming South Korea’s third former president to be arrested on criminal charges. Mr Moon’s victory has ended almost a decade of conservative rule and the period of political turmoil. He is expected to restore trust in political institutions and address abuses uncovered in the downfall of his predecessor.
Mr Moon comes to power amid geopolitical tensions on the Korean peninsula. The North Korean regime of Kim Jong-un, who took power after the death of his father in late 2011, works on developing nuclear missiles capable of reaching the west coast of the US. It is expected that Pyongyang would soon test-detonate its sixth nuclear device. US president Donald Trump views Mr Kim’s obnoxious regime as his major foreign policy challenge, but his stance on the problem veers from declaring an end to the era of strategic patience and threatening a pre-emptive military action to denuclearise the North to saying he would be honoured to meet Mr Kim, though he has not specified under what conditions.
Mr Moon wants engagement and dialogue as he believes that sanctions and pressure are not enough to persuade the North Korean dictator to change course. He is expected to pursue a rebalancing of international relations, moving away from US-focused diplomacy (America and South Korea have been treaty allies since the Korean War).
South Korea’s new president has said that he is prepared to meet North Korea’s leader under right circumstances. He is likely to revive the old liberal “sunshine” policy towards the North, which included diplomatic talks, family reunions and joint economic projects. Engagement and dialogue is also favoured by China as Beijing fears a North Korea implosion.
Seoul, home to 20 million people and located just 60 kilometres from the North-South border, is particularly vulnerable to North Korean retaliatory strikes emanating from a conflict between Washington and Pyongyang.
Mr Trump has sidelined South Korea from discussions on the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programmes amid the power vacuum in Seoul. But now, it is imperative that Washington and Seoul coordinate their approach towards the North. South Korea must play a more active role to curb North Korea’s nuclear threat. Seoul cannot be pushed around by its long-time protector.
Mr Trump said that Seoul should pay 1 billion dollars for the US-owned and operated Terminal High Altitude Area Defence, or Thaad, which is designed to protect South Korea from the existential threat from the North. That remark prompted a sharp rebuke from Seoul.
The installation of the missile shield on South Korean soil has infuriated China, South Korea’s largest trading partner. Beijing fears that the platform’s powerful radar could be used to spy on its own missiles deployments. China has launched economic retaliatory measures targeting an array of South Koreans companies, including Hyundai and Lotte. Mr Moon has pledged to reconsider Thaad, but he is unlikely to reverse the anti-missile system as it is essential to South Korea’s defence.
Photo: the government of South Korea; official Photographer: Jeon Han
