England has 10 Downing St, America has the White House and South Korea has the Blue House. Home and office of the elected president, it’s been in the media spotlight a lot over the last six months. Earlier this month, May 10, a new president was elected in. The election was held after former president Park Geun-hye was impeached. So who exactly is new president Moon Jae-in and what might we expect to change in Korea now he’s in charge?
Moon Jae-in is 64, born in Geoje, the eldest sun of a refugee from North Korea. His former jobs include being a human rights lawyer, setting up a newspaper, and chief of staff to a prior president, Roh Moo-hyun. He was the runner up to Park in the last election and won 41% of the vote this time.
A united Korea?
Tensions between the US and North Korea have been heightened since Trump took office and the North fired off some more missiles. Moon Jae-in has spoken about wanting to engage with the North, using a mix of pressure, sanctions and dialog. He was reported in the New York Times as saying South Korea must “embrace the North Korean people to achieve peaceful reunification one day.”
Down with chaebols! Up with minimum wages!
Any K-drama knows about chaebols – those rich, powerful families ruling the country. Moon Jae-in has promised to take them on, make them pay higher taxes and have less power as shareholders. He’s also promised to spend 4.2 trillion on new jobs, and raise the minimum wage. Right now it’s about 6,470KRW (approx £4.50). He’s pledged it will be 10,000KRW (approx £7) by 2020.
LGBTQ rights unclear
Moon has been heavily criticised after saying he’s against homosexuality in a debate. He was asked if he agrees gay soldiers are weakening the military, and he said he did agree. He also said that he opposes homosexuality and same-sex marriage, and yet somewhat contradicted himself by saying he opposed discrimination based on one’s sexual orientation. He’s since gone on to say his views are ‘more nuanced’ than they appeared in the debate and that “one’s sexuality is a private matter.”
For more information on Moon Jae-in, check these out: A short read is in The Guardian and a recent Time magazine article and Al Jazeera pieces are a longer, more analytical read.
Why not pop by and say hi? Tourists can visit the Blue House. Check it out here.
