Moon Jae-in, who declared victory in Tuesday’s South Korean presidential election, has led a life as turbulent as that of the nation he will lead. The son
SEOUL – Moon Jae-in, who declared victory in Tuesday’s South Korean presidential election, has led a life as turbulent as that of the nation he will lead.
The son of refugees who fled North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War, Moon, 64, grew up in poverty and spent time in jail for protesting military-backed dictators. Moon later became a human rights lawyer and worked for late liberal President Roh Moo-hyun.
Moon’s North Korean parents resettled in South Korea’s southeast before he was born in January 1953. They initially lived in a POW camp.
As a boy, he often went to a Catholic church with a bucket to get free U. S. corn flour and milk powder.
After entering Seoul’s’ Kyung Hee University in 1972, Moon joined a pro-democracy movement to topple the dictatorship of Park Chung-hee, who ruled South Korea for 18 years until his 1979 assassination.
