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Moon Jae-in: South Korea's next probable president

If elected on May 9, he will be South Korea's second Catholic leader
Moon Jae-in: South Korea's next probable president

South Korean presidential candidate Moon Jae-in from the opposition Democratic United Party during his election campaign in Seoul on Dec. 18, 2012. The victor of that election was Park Geun-hye who was recently ousted from government. Moon is now expected to be the country's next leader following elections on May 9. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je/AFP)

Published: March 22, 2017 04:52 AM GMT
Updated: March 22, 2017 04:59 AM GMT

South Korea is heading for a May 9 election where it looks likely to elect Catholic liberal Moon Jae-in to succeed ousted president Park Geun-hye.

The latest opinion surveys say that Moon, the Democratic United Party leader who lost the 2012 presidential election to Park, is the favorite.

"The next election is still far ahead, but he is a great choice as a candidate. If he'll win, he'll be the second Catholic to sit on the highest power seat in Korea's history," said Father Agostino from Mapo-gu, the western area of Seoul.

South Korea's first Catholic president was Nobel Peace Prize recipient Kim Dae-jung who served from 1998 to 2003.

As a politician, Moon has battled his own party members over principles. The 64-year-old has said being a political representative should not be about making a career out of social connections that often lead to corruption. A life in public office, he has also said, should not be reserved for people from a rich family, often the case in South Korea.

 

Common touch

Instead Moon has strongly believed a politician should emerge as a true representative of the common people. This approach can also be seen in his earlier career as a lawyer in Busan where he focussed on human and civil rights issues.

A Catholic woman who attends Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul said that Moon was loyal to the former president Roh Moo-hyun (2003–2008) who is seen as "a symbol of democracy” in the country. "That is why people respect him," said the 55-year-old woman.

"When he was a lawyer he worked to help afflicted people and when he became a politician he tried to fight the political corruption in what is an unfair political system," she said.

Moon and fellow lawyer Roh were both leading figures in the pro-democracy protests that swept the country in 1987, which led to South Korea's first direct presidential elections that same year.

When his friend Roh later entered politics, Moon continued with his legal practice in Busan, with a focus in defending poor workers who had been arrested in connection with political dissent and labour strikes.

In 2002 Moon joined his friend Roh and acted as his campaign manager for the presidential elections of that year. He went on to serve Roh as a presidential aide and then chief of staff. Among his assignments was to fight political corruption and to help establish a 'clean' political leadership.

The sad paradox is that Roh committed suicide a year after leaving office after being questioned over graft allegations. Before killing himself Roh denied any wrongdoing and apologized for the corrupt actions of some of his associates.

 

North Korean parents

Moon was born in the southern island of Geoje in 1952 during the Korean War after his North Korean parents fled to the South.

His father was a menial worker at a prisoner-of-war camp in Geoje while his mother sold eggs in the nearby port city of Busan.

He entered law school at Kyunghee University in Seoul in 1972 where his personal biography first collided with that of Korea's first female president.

Moon was in fact expelled from the university for leading a student protest against the authoritarian dictator Park Chung-hee — the recently ousted president's father. Forced out of office on March 10, Park was impeached over her collusion with a friend to pressure big businesses to donate funds. 

Moon also served in the military and was a member of South Korea's special forces.

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