A former anti-government student leader, Moon Jae-in stands poised to succeed ousted leader Park Geun-hye, the daughter of the slain South Korean dictator<\/b>
\nSEOUL \u2013 A former anti-government student leader, Moon Jae-in stands poised to succeed ousted leader Park Geun-hye, the daughter of the slain South Korean dictator who jailed him in the 1970s.
Moon, the current front-runner in Tuesday\u2019s election, has led a life that seems custom-made for a starring role in South Korean opposition politics.
The son of North Korean refugees, he waited in line as a boy in war-ravaged Busan for free U. S. corn flour and milk powder. Imprisoned as a university student for trying to topple South Korea\u2019s military rulers, the dictatorship later forced Moon into South Korea\u2019s elite special forces. He became a human rights lawyer and then rose to what the media called \u201cKing Secretary\u201d to the last liberal leader of the country, with whom he worked to reconcile with North Korea. He later defended that mentor from corruption charges.
Moon, 64, who lost to Park in the 2012 elections by a million votes, says this election will probably be \u201cthe very last challenge in my life.\u201d He said in a video message last month that he wants to be a leader who \u201copens the door for a new era, new politics and a new generation. This is my desperate wish\u2026 I\u2019 ll definitely win.\u201d
Moon\u2019s popularity rose after Park was felled by a huge corruption scandal that left the country\u2019s powerful conservative establishment rudderless.
Moon\u2019s nearest rival is a moderate, Ahn Cheol-soo. But Moon has established a growing lead in recent polls.
He has said that if elected, he\u2019 ll build a more assertive South Korea, improve ties with North Korea and review the contentious deployment of an advanced U. S. missile defense system in the South.
Some analysts say Moon\u2019s rise to power will clash with President Donald Trump, who wants more pressure on North Korea\u2019s nuclear ambitions and has suggested that South Korea should pay more for U. S. security commitments. Others say the seriousness of the North Korean nuclear threat means Moon likely won\u2019 t push for any drastic changes.
Similar worries surrounded Moon\u2019s friend, late President Roh Moo-hyun, who was elected in 2002 on a pledge not to \u201ckowtow\u201d to Washington, though he later sent troops to Iraq at Washington\u2019s request and forged a free trade deal with the United States.
No understanding of Moon\u2019s career is complete without Roh, the darling of South Korean liberals who leapt to his death in 2009 amid a corruption scandal involving his family.
Both started their careers as lawyers, with Moon joining Roh\u2019s law office in the 1980s. They worked together to defend the rights of poor laborers, student activists and other ordinary people until Roh entered politics as a lawmaker in 1988.
After Roh became president, Moon took up a spate of top jobs at the presidential Blue House. He oversaw Seoul\u2019s preparations for the 2007 historic inter-Korean summit talks between Roh and Kim Jong Il, the late father of current North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un. South Korean media called Moon \u201cKing Secretary\u201d during Roh\u2019s 2003-2008 term.
When Roh was impeached in 2004 on alleged election law violations and incompetence, Moon worked as one of his defense lawyers before the Constitutional Court eventually returned Roh to power. When Roh faced a corruption investigation after leaving office, Moon was his lawyer. After Roh killed himself, Moon announced his death on TV.
\u201cWhen I drink a little, I sometimes recall my old days. Then I ask myself: \u2018What does Roh Moo-hyun mean in my life?\u2019 \u201d Moon wrote in a memoir published before his failed presidential bid in 2012. \u201cHe really defined my life. My life would have changed a lot if I didn\u2019 t meet him. So he is my destiny.\u201d
Moon was the eldest son of parents who fled North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War broke out and settled in South Korea\u2019s southeastern port city of Busan.
When he was a first and second grade student, he went a Catholic church with a bucket to receive free U. S. relief goods.
\u201cIt was an unpleasant thing to do. But that was the role of the eldest son. Nuns sometimes slipped candies and fruit into my hands as I was a little kid.\u2026 Those nuns looked like angels to me, \u201d Moon said in the memoir.
After entering Seoul\u2019s Kyung Hee University in 1972, Moon joined student protests against Park Chung-hee, an army general-turned-dictator who ruled the country for 18 years following his 1961 coup. In 1975, Moon was expelled from his school and jailed for months for staging anti-Park protests. He was set free after getting a suspended prison term and conscripted into South Korea\u2019s special forces. All able-bodied men in South Korea must serve in the army, but Park\u2019s government often sent dissidents on tough assignments.
The senior Park was gunned down by his intelligence chief in 1979, and Moon was allowed to return to school. But Moon rejoined student activism and was jailed again after Chun Doo-hwan, an army general who seized power via another coup following Park\u2019s death, squashed calls for democracy.
Moon was later released thanks to what he was told were the lobbying efforts of university officials. Moon said he initially wanted to become a judge, but authorities didn\u2019 t allow that because of his past record of student activism. He got a lawyer\u2019s job at Roh\u2019s office.
Moon said Roh\u2019s death led him to pursue politics; he wants to amplify his mentor\u2019s successes and overcome the failures. When millions rallied for months against Park Geun-hye late last year, Moon described it as an effort to eradicate deep-rooted social inequalities and corrupt ties between political and business circles, many of them legacies of Park\u2019s dictator father.
If he fails again to win back liberal rule, Moon says he\u2019 ll quit politics for good.
\u201cMaybe, I can work as a lawyer again, \u201d Moon wrote recently. \u201cBut if I become an ordinary citizen, I want to live freely no matter what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n