Moon Jae-in (Korean: 문재인, pronounced [mun.dʑɛ.in] ; born 24 January 1953) is a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as the 12th President of South Korea from 2017 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), he was the party's leader from 2015 to 2016, and represented Sasang in the National Assembly from 2012 to 2016. Moon previously served as the senior secretary for civil affairs and the chief of staff to President Roh Moo-hyun.
Born in Geoje to North Korean refugees, Moon was raised in poverty in Busan. He excelled in school and studied law at Kyung Hee University. He became a lawyer and was involved in human rights activism with Roh Moo-hyun. He was imprisoned for organizing a protest against the Yushin Constitution. As a result of his work in human rights law, Moon was chosen to be Roh's campaign manager in the 2002 presidential election. He served in Roh's administration in various official capacities. In 2012, Moon was a candidate for the Democratic United Party in the 2012 presidential election, which he lost to Park Geun-hye.
In the 2017 presidential election, Moon was elected president as the Democratic Party of Korea candidate after Park Geun-hye was impeached and removed from office. As president, Moon received international attention for his meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at inter-Korean summits in April, May, and September 2018, making him the third South Korean president to meet their North Korean counterpart. On June 30, 2019, he met with both Kim and U.S. president Donald Trump at the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). During his presidency, Moon favored the Sunshine Policy, a peaceful approach to Korean reunification. On economic policy, he favored reform of chaebols (conglomerates), raised the minimum wage by more than 16%, and lowered the maximum workweek from 68 to 52 hours. Moon received praise domestically and internationally for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. His party won a historic victory in the 2020 South Korean legislative election. However, his party lost the next presidential election, making him the first president since South Korea's democratization in 1987 to transfer power to the opposition after a single term. He left office in May 2022, succeeded by his former prosecutor general, Yoon Suk Yeol.
Early life, education, and military service
Moon Jae-in was born in Geoje, South Korea, on January 24, 1953, shortly before the end of the Korean War, as the second child and oldest son among five children of father Moon Yong-hyung and mother Kang Han-ok. His parents were refugees from South Hamgyong Province, North Korea who fled their native city of Hungnam in the Hungnam evacuation during the Korean War. His father worked as head of the agriculture department that detained food, especially the rice of Korean colonial people, as one of the main tasks in Heungnam, Hamju, South Hamgyong Province.
His family eventually settled in Busan. Since his father did not want to become a government employee as he had been in North Korea, he started a business selling socks, which left his family in great debt. His mother became the main earner by selling clothes received from relief organizations and delivering briquettes. Moon's family became attached to the Catholic Church when his mother went to the local cathedral to receive whole milk powder. Moon once said in an interview that he did not know how to ride a bike since his family was too poor to afford a bike or a monthly school tuition.
Moon entered Kyungnam High School and reportedly placed at the top of his class. He was accepted to study law at Kyung Hee University with a full scholarship. At university, he met his future wife, Kim Jung-sook. After organizing a student protest against the Yushin Constitution, he was arrested, convicted, imprisoned at Seodaemun Prison, and expelled from the university. Later, he was conscripted into the military and assigned to the 1st Special Forces Brigade, where he participated in "Operation Paul Bunyan" during the axe murder incident in Panmunjom.
After his honorable discharge, the death of his father motivated him to study for the bar exam. He stayed at the Buddhist temple of Daeheungsa to study for the exam and passed the first of two rounds in 1979. In 1980, he returned to Kyung Hee University to complete the remainder of his studies. Later that year, he passed the second round of the bar exam and was admitted to the Judicial Research and Training Institute. He graduated from the Institute ranked second in his class but was not appointed a judge or prosecutor due to his history of student activism against the Yushin dictatorship under Park Chung Hee. Moon then chose to go into private practice instead.
After becoming a lawyer, he worked under future president Roh Moo-hyun in the 1980s. Along with Roh, he took cases involving the labor rights issues and became renowned for his work in human rights. As a member of the Busan Bar Association, Moon investigated the child labor camp known as the Brothers Home.
He was a founding member of the progressive South Korean newspaper, The Hankyoreh, in 1988.
Yielding to Roh's insistence, Moon became Roh's campaign manager during his presidential bid. After Roh's victory, Moon became Roh's close aide holding various roles in a presidential administration. Moon held roles as Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs, Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Society and Chief Presidential Secretary from 2003 to 2008.
When the National Assembly voted to impeach Roh on violating election laws in 2004, Moon led the legal delegation for Roh at the Constitutional Court and won the case.
Moon, as Roh's chief of staff, led the preparation committee of the 2nd Inter-Korean Summit but did not attend the summit. Moon served as the chief mourner and the head of the funeral committee when Roh died by suicide after the latter was embroiled in a high-profile corruption and bribery investigation in May 2009, which deeply affected Moon. He reportedly held then-President Lee Myung-bak politically responsible for Roh's death, an accusation he denied when Lee publicly accused Moon of orchestrating a political vendetta after the Moon administration launched anti-corruption investigations into Lee once in power.
Political career before the presidency
Despite his earlier indifference, he began to get involved in politics. He published a memoir called Moon Jae-in: The Destiny which became a bestseller. His popularity had been rising steadily against his likely opponent in the presidential race, Park Geun-hye. In a February 2012 poll, Moon rivaled Park in popularity.
Moon managed to capitalize on the conservatives' decline in popularity amid a series of corruption scandals. As one pundit said, "Moon had managed to portray himself as a moderate and rational leader who has the backing of the younger generation".
In 2012, Moon entered a bid for a seat in the National Assembly in the 19th legislative election. Moon won a seat in the Sasang District of Busan on April 11, 2012, as a member of the Democratic United Party with 55% of the vote. As of 2021, Sasang District belongs to the Conservative Party.
On September 16, 2012, Moon received the presidential nomination for the Democratic United Party.