South Korea elects Moon, and sunshine (policy) could be on its way

South Korea elects Moon, and sunshine (policy) could be on its way
Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

On Monday, South Korean voters chose Moon Jae-in as their next president. He is a liberal who plans to limit the power of big business in a country known for its anti-labor policies. He is also a child of North Korean refugees and aims to reshape the country’s policy for dealing with its turbulent neighbor, North Korea. [New York Times / Choe Sang-Hun]
Moon’s election is the culmination of a 60-day snap campaign after former President Park Geun-hye (the country’s first female president and daughter of dictator Park Chung-hee) was officially impeached and removed from office on March 10 in a corruption and influence-peddling scandal. [Financial Times / Bryan Harris]
The election saw the highest turnout in South Korea in two decades of presidential elections — and a historic turn away from the country’s conservative party, which has held power in South Korea almost exclusively (except for a period from 1998 to 2008 when the South was under progressive leadership), toward Moon. [New York Times / Choe Sang-Hun]
While Moon comes from the left, he’s not out of left field. He served as chief of staff to former President Roh Moo-hyun — a fellow progressive who followed what’s called the “sunshine policy” toward North Korea. [Guardian / Justin McCurry]
The sunshine policy (which was in place from 1998 to 2008, when liberals had control of the government) was marked by engagement with North Korea rather than sanctions. Two South Korean presidents actually visited Pyongyang during the days of the sunshine policy — Roh and Kim Dae-jung, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts of economic and political engagement with North Korea. [CNN / Pamela Boykoff, James Griffiths]
One of the biggest questions facing the country’s new president, then, is this: “In South Korea, Will Moon Bring Back Sunshine?” (Great headline, Foreign Policy.) But seriously, while it’s a tough question, the answer seems like yes. [Emily Tamkin / Foreign Policy]
Moon advocates for opening up dialogue with North Korea, as he considers the hardline stance that conservatives in his country took since 2008 to have been a failure. In some sense, this aligns with Trump’s statement about being open to meeting Kim Jong Un, whom he called a “smart cookie.” [Guardian / Justin McCurry]
Realistically, though — despite Moon saying he and Trump are “on the same page” — their stances are pretty far apart. Moon seems skeptical of the kind of aggressive US involvement that Trump seems inclined toward. For example, Moon plans to review Park’s decision to let the US deploy the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea. He’s also said he’s interested in reopening a factory park on the north side of the Korean border — a joint project between South and North Korea. [Vox / Jennifer Williams​]




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