New South Korean President Moon Jae-in willing to visit North, talk to U.S., China
South Korean President Moon Jae-in promised Wednesday to lower tensions with North Korea and said he would be willing to travel to Pyongyang "under the right circumstances."
Moon, a liberal, won a special election this week called after a corruption scandal led to the impeachment of former president Park Geun-hye. Park was a staunch conservative closely aligned with the sanction-heavy, stick-over-carrot approach to the North favored by the United States.
Moon's victory wrested the presidency from a decade-long conservative run.
"I will solve the security crisis promptly," Moon, a former special forces member and human rights lawyer, said in his inaugural address. "I will also lay the foundation for the resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue. I will provide a turning point to lower tensions on the peninsula."
Moon, 64, drew fire from election opponents over his disdain for assembly of the THAAD missile-defense system, a U.S.-built program designed to protect South Korean population centers by shooting down incoming missiles. The system was rushed into place following a series of mostly failed Pyongyang missile tests.
THAAD — Terminal High Altitude Area Defense — drew harsh criticism from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. China also has protested the system. On Wednesday, China's defense ministry said it had tested a new type of missile aimed at the country’s waters west of the Korean peninsula. Hong Kong-based military analyst Liang Guoliang told the South China Morning Post the test was "obviously aimed at THAAD in South Korea.”
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The U.S. has defended THAAD as purely a defense system that poses no threat to China. Moon treaded lightly on the subject Wednesday.
"I will negotiate earnestly with the U.S. and China to solve the THAAD problem," he said. "Strong security depends on robust defense capabilities. I will try hard to strengthen our independent defense power."
Moon's plans are bold, but obstacles abound. Parliament remains under conservative control. The North Korean nuclear threat has ballooned since a liberal last occupied the presidency. And North Korea's ballistic missile technology, if successful, could place the U.S. West Coast within range. That could further try U.S. patience in eliminating the threat from Pyongyang.
And all politics in South Korea, just like everywhere else, is local. North Korea is the first issue the world sees when viewing the South. But Moon inherits a fragile economy and a government still in tatters over the implosion of ex-president Park in a corruption scandal that led to her impeachment.
Moon promised to focus on job creation and on healing his nation's political divides.
"I will be a president who wipes away the tears of the people," Moon said. "You are witnessing the start of a great history. ... Come along on this road. I will dedicate my body and life to serve you."