South Korea’s newly elected conservative president wants to say “no” to America more often – PB/TK
What Will the New President of South Korea Mean for North Korea and Trump? – By Joshua Keating l May 9 2017
Moon Jae-in has declared victory in South Korea’s general election, with exit polls giving him about 40 percent of the vote compared with 23 percent for his nearest rival. Moon’s election brings an end to months of political chaos following former President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment and removal from office for a bizarre corruption scandal involving a close confidante. Park is currently in jail awaiting trial.
The election results mean that a conservative government will replace a liberal one, but the symbolic shift is bigger than that. Park’s political basewas older voters nostalgic for the tenure of her father, military dictator Park Chung-hee. Moon was arrested for taking part in protests against the elder Park and later became a human rights lawyer. His strongest support came from young voters, many of whom took part in the protests that brought down the younger Park.
Though much of the election focused on corruption and domestic economic issues, the vote also took place at a time of heightened tension with North Korea and uncertainty about the unpredictable new president of the United States. Here, too, the biographies of the two leaders seem significant. Park, whose father’s regime was backed by the U.S. during the Cold War and whose mother was killed by a North Korean sympathizer, favored a hard line against the north and close military cooperation with the United States. Moon, whose father was a refugee from the north, isn’t a North Korean sympathizer by any means but favors a more conciliatory approach. He also recently published a book saying that South Korea needs to learn to say “no to America.”
Continue to slate.com article: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/05/09/what_will_moon_jae_in_the_new_president_of_south_korea_mean_for_north_korea.html
