Moon Jae-in (64) has become the new president of South Korea

The previous conservative president Park Geun-hye was impeached over a corruption scandal. The leader’s involvement sparked huge protests demanding Ms. Park stand down. The scandal has betrayed the people’s trust in the system and seriously affected the recent elections. There was a voter turnout of 77.2 percent, the highest in 20 years. Receiving 44.1 percent of the votes, liberal Moon Jae-in now faces the difficult task of restoring people’s trust in the government system.

Moon Jae-in is a left-wing liberal who prefers dialog over violence. The change of policy raises questions among allies and opposition alike. The Western media are concerned Moon will loosen the ties between Korea and the U.S. and altering the deal over the THAAD system. While the South Korean right-wing politicians, who are mostly conservative, say he is unfit to rule because he lacks the will and strength to bear South Korea’s national security.

One of Moon’s vows to the people is to re-establish contact with North Korea. He supports direct talks with Kim Jong-un, saying “I am willing to go anywhere for the peace of the Korean Peninsula”. He also stated he will ‘sincerely negotiate’ with the U.S. and China over the deployment of the U.S. anti-missile THAAD system. Moon expressed, despite the disagreements of THAAD, the alliance with the U.S. would remain strong.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Reuters and BBC news.