The liberal politician expected to succeed disgraced Park Geun-hye as South Korea’s next president could make significant policy changes on\u2026<\/b>
SEOUL \u2014
The liberal politician expected to succeed disgraced Park Geun-hye as South Korea\u2019s next president could make significant policy changes on North Korea, on a U. S. missile-defense system that has enraged China and on powerful big business.
A Constitutional Court on Friday dismissed Park from office after upholding her impeachment over a corruption scandal involving \u201cchaebol\u201d — the family-run conglomerates that dominate Asia\u2019s fourth-biggest economy.
A presidential election will be held by May 9 and opinion polls suggest South Koreans will opt for change by electing a liberal into the presidential Blue House, ending nine years of conservative rule.
The front-runner is Moon Jae-in, a human rights lawyer who was a top aide to former President Roh Moo-hyun, an advocate of a \u201csunshine policy\u201d of engagement with North Korea.
Moon has criticised the two former conservative presidents \u2013 Park and her predecessor, Lee Myung-bak — for derailing the progress made inter-Korean relations during the previous liberal administrations.
He calls for a \u201ctwo-step\u201d approach on North Korea, with talks leading first to \u201ceconomic unification\u201d and ultimately \u201cpolitical and military unification\u201d.
Moon on Sunday stressed the need to \u201cembrace and be united with\u201d the North Korean people, while adding that he could never accept its \u201cdictatorial regime\u201d, or its trampling of rights.
He denounced the North\u2019s \u201ccruel and ruthless behavior\u201d in the wake of the murder in Malaysia last month of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
But he told a news conference there was no choice but to recognise Kim Jong Un as leader.
\u201cWe can\u2019t deny that the ruler of the North Korean people is Kim Jong Un. We have no choice but to recognise Kim Jong Un as a counterpart, whether we put pressure and impose sanctions on North Korea or hold dialogue,\u201d Moon said.
A conciliatory line might face opposition from main ally the United States where President Donald Trump\u2019s aides are pressing to complete a strategy review on how to counter North Korea\u2019s missile and nuclear threats.
North Korea conducted two nuclear tests last year, as well as numerous missile launches, the latest on March 6 when it fired four ballistic missiles into the sea off Japan.
Speaking to reporters recently, Moon invoked his old boss, Roh, and Roh\u2019s predecessor, Nobel peace prize winner Kim Dae-jung, the architect of the \u201csunshine policy\u201d, as inspirations behind his bid for the presidency.
The two former liberal presidents both held summits with the North\u2019s then-leader, Kim Jong Il — the only such meetings ever -promising reconciliation and initiating joint projects including the Kaesong Industrial Complex and tours to Mount Kumgang in the North.
Both were suspended under conservative administrations.
Moon said South Korea should resume operations at Kaesong — where South Korean companies operate factories with North Korean workers on the North Korean side of the border — regardless of North\u2019s nuclear ambitions.
Some conservatives have denounced Moon as \u201cpro-North\u201d.
He would also face conservative ire if he were to delay deployment of a U. S. missile-defense system.
Alarmed by North Korean weapons tests, South Korea and the United States have agreed to deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in South Korea, angering China which sees its sophisticated radar as a threat to its own security.
The first elements of the system arrived in South Korea last week.
Moon says a final decision on deployment should be made by the next government, and parliament should approve it.
But that could cost him in the polls if defense become a big election issue, said Myongjin University politics professor Kim Hyong-joon.
\u201cHe\u2019s perceived as lacking a sense of national security,\u201d Kim said.
On business, Moon has called for reform of the chaebol, addressing Koreans\u2019 concerns over their influence, and their involvement in the scandal that brought down Park.
Moon has said chaebols stifle smaller companies and are detrimental to the economy. But he is unlikely to introduce radical reform, or ramp up corporate taxes, let alone dismantle them, as some critics urge.
\u201cI just want transparent and democratic management,\u201d he said recently.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017.<\/p>\n