hankyoreh

[This profile of Democratic United Party senior advisor Moon Jae-in was initially published by the Hankyoreh on November 7, 2011. In next month’s general election, Moon is running in a pivotal race in the conservative stronghold of Busan. He is facing New Frontier Party candidate Son Su-jo, 27, who some see as a youthful hope for a conservative party desperate to refurbish its image and attract young voters. Moon served as chief-of-staff under the Roh Moo-hyun administration and is a potential liberal candidate in December’s presidential election. Moon is believed to be attempting to use this election as a springboard to being named opposition candidate in December's presidential election. We feel that now is a useful time to republish this article and seek insight into who Moon Jae-in is as a politician.]

By Sung Han-yong, senior staff writer　

Moon Jae-In, 60, chairperson of the Roh Moo-Hyun Foundation, has become the central figure leading the effort toward unifying South Korea’s political opposition. He will be making crucial decisions with former Prime Minister Lee Hae-Chan, among others. Chairman Moon has also conducted special sessions for members of the Democratic Party. He is also giving readings of his autobiography ‘Destiny of Moon Jae-in’ in large cities such as Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, Daegu, Chunchon, and Daejeon.

He attended a talk show at the University of Busan, conducted by Kim Jae-Dong, as a special guest.

Moves of a politician

Moon went a step further during the by-election held on April 20, 2011, by actively participating in election campaigns across the country, and he was a popular guest. He wasn‘t the most charismatic speaker but his openness was appealing to voters. The opposition won the Seoul mayoral by-election, but was soundly defeated in Busan’s eastern district. Some feel that the reason for the defeat at Busan was the nomination of the wrong candidate, but others attribute the result to Chairman Moon’s limits as a politician.

As a presidential candidate, Chairman Moon’s support rate was not very high. The ratings of Sohn Hak-Gyu, representative of the Democratic Party, and Yoo Shi-Min, representative of the People‘s Participation Party, which have been falling, while Moon’s have been steady [Moon is currently first in polls among opposition hopefuls for the presidency]. And within the opposition, there are already predictions that there will be competition among Ahn Cheol-Soo, 50, Dean of the Graduate School for Convergence and Technology at Seoul National University, Moon Jae-In, and Sohn Hak-Gyu, 64, former Democratic Party chairperson, for the position of opposition candidate for the presidency.

Exactly what kind of politician is Chairman Moon? Will he end up running in the presidential race? Will Moon have the competitive edge against Park Geun-Hye, daughter of former military dictator Park Chung-hee and the ruling party’s only election hope? These are just some of the current issues that interest the members of the opposition.

Seeking insight to some of these issues, I met with former members of the Roh Moo-Hyun Blue House. These people were able to explain, in-detail, what kind of person Moon is and his work capacity as a politician. There was a huge divide between the positive and negative perspectives of Chairman Moon’s political future.

The following is insight from people who believe that Chairman Moon will run for president.

“If there is a request from the people to run in the race, it will become his destiny to run. He isn’t just another representative of the opposition. Moon represents a new political force which combines values such as concern for the environment, ecology, and gender equality with Roh-friendly force.”

“Chairman Moon has raised the flag of opposition solidarity. If a one-on-one race against the Grand National Party (now NFP) takes place, Chairman Moon will naturally start acting. Even now, there are many members of the Democratic Party who back Sohn during the day, but support Moon at night.”

This is a statement with high expectations. But Chairman Moon himself is maintaining a modest position, stating, “Once solidarity of the opposition has turned out to be successful, and good results are shown at the General Elections, then I will consider the choices.” This shows that Chairman Moon will mostly focus on solidarity of the opposition for now. There has also been a case where Moon stated, “I am really not sure.”

Chairman Moon was brought up as potential presidential candidate after the April 20 by-elections. After the People’s Participation Party, led by Rhyu Si-min, failed to have a candidate elected in Busan, Rhyu’s supporters moved to Chairman Moon. And it was around this time that pictures of Chairman Moon during his time at Special Forces were being circulated among the public and after his autobiography was released in June 2011, the ‘Moon Jae-in Wind’ was fully blowing. But actual discussion on whether or not Moon has the credentials and ability to run as a presidential candidate has not taken place.

With regard to Chairman Moon’s qualifications to be president, two former high-level officers who worked with Moon gave completely different assessments.

“The president is responsible for bringing national solidarity and national management (security and economy). And the right to have this position is calculated in multiplication. If a person receives a zero in either of the criteria, the person becomes president without any value to the country. Chairman Moon has the required qualifications to be a president, and is not inferior to former representative Park Geun-hye.”

“Chairman Moon did not have much of a role during the 2002 Democratic Party Elections. Only after Roh Moo-hyun became president did he come into the Blue House and become the most influential person. In addition, after the Roh administration, when the opposition was in trouble, there were requests made to Chairman Moon to run in the Yangsan, south Gyeongsang province, by-elections and for Mayor of Busan but he never accepted the requests. The Blue house is the only place where we did politics.”

His ‘Qualifications’

First, does he have the desire for political power? Most politicians crave accomplishments. But Chairman Moon isn’t ‘animalistic‘, but ‘plant-like’. Isn’t this a disposition not fitting a politician?

“If devotion or obsession over power is all there is, Moon does not have the qualifications for this position. But one aspect that is more important in the pursuit of power is the will for improvement. In the near future, the democratic liberals will form a unified government. It has now become a period when ability for unification and negotiation, as well as tolerance and governance skills, are needed, not the traditional qualities of being charismatic and having leadership skills. In regards to this, Moon Jae-In is the best-fitting match for the position.”

Second, what about the fact that Moon lacks political experience? Former President Roh Moo-hyun hesitated once before appointing Moon as chief of staff, because of his inexperience.

According to a former official of the Blue House who assisted Chairman Moon, “He is one of the people who are most familiar with current political conflicts. It is unlikely that Chairman Moon will attempt to go against the current political status quo.” Another official stated, “Moon only lacks actual experience inside the party, but he has experience making decisions related to state affairs at the center of power. It is an unfair view that Moon lacks the ability to make decisions regarding state affairs.”

Third, is he capable of carrying out policies, a crucial aspect of a presidential candidate? No one has yet heard about Moon’s plans on the economy and welfare. To be more precise, no one has yet asked, because no one expected any answers from him.

Chairman Moon has been maintaining the following posture. “Once unification of the opposition has turned out to be successful, and good results are shown at the General Elections, then I will think and consider the choices.” Moon recently stated, “I am really not sure.”

“Moon just never had the chance to reveal his ideas.” A former Blue House official who supports Moon said, “He worked in central positions in the Roh administration, and he has firm foundations. But in the field of policies, he also needs support from experts of the relevant fields like other candidates.”

Moon’s alleged weaknesses must be verified before they can be believed. Aside from other aspects, there has been criticism that, as Chief Secretary and Secretary of Civilian Affairs, Moon failed to manage Former President Roh Moo-hyun‘s family members. In the early days of the Roh Administration, Moon strongly warned the members of the cabinet to not meet with Taekwang Industrial chairman Park Yeon-cha, who was trying to attach himself to anyone with power. Park is now in prison on conviction of bribe taking. But in the end, Moon failed to stop scandals involving family members of former President Roh.

A former high official put it in the following terms:“Moon’s main problem could be his failure to stop the scandal. It is impossible to make a political justification as it ended in a death of the former president. Will Chairman Moon be able to withstand the offensive if the ruling party starts to attack around this? Moon has a clear soul.”

Those who support Chairman Moon see this and say, “People can express this to be problems in morality, but Moon did not have any problem in terms of carrying out his duties.”

Chairman Moon also explained the situation in his book:“The Special Audit Branch within the Office of Secretary of Civilian Affairs acquired information related to the scandal. I ordered a thorough investigation into the matter. During the investigation, people on the company side denied all claims. They stated nothing similar to it has happened. The same story was heard from the brother as well. But as it turns out, both sides were not telling the truth. Back then, because everyone was denying claims fiercely, there was nothing we could have done. The Blue House does not have any investigation rights therefore we could not dig further in. We would have never set aside the incident if there were any more clues or someone had told the truth.”

The life of Chairman Moon before joining the Blue House is well explained in his autobiography.

His parents are from Heungnam of South Hamgyeong province, in present-day North Korea. They fled to Geojae-do during the Korean War in 1950. Chairman Moon was born in Geojae-do and moved to Busan when he was young. He attended middle school and high school in Busan. He got accepted to Kyeonghee University Law School in 1972 but was arrested and expelled from school in 1975 due to participation in student protests. He was forced to serve in the Special Forces to fulfill his military service. He was assigned to the 1st Special Forces Brigade, the commander of which was former president Chun Doo-hwan and the battalion commander was Jang Sae-dong, Chun’s eventual Blue House chief of staff.

He returned to school in 1980 but, during ‘Seoul’s Spring’, he was arrested again for violating martial law. However, he was released, miraculously, by passing the bar exam. Moon returned to his hometown of Busan after not being appointed as a judge, and decided to become a lawyer. And at this moment in time he met Noh Moo-hyun. During the 1980‘s, Joint Law Officer of Noh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in was handling nearly all of the cases related to labor and human rights in the Busan area. During the June Democracy Movement of 1987, Headquarter of National Movement for Achieving Democratic Constitution was first organized in Busan, before it was formed in Seoul. The head of Busan Headquarters was Noh Moo-hyun and the senior member was Moon Jae-in.

In 1988, lawyer Roh Moo-hyun was elected to the National Assembly, but lawyer Moon Jae-in was left alone in Busan to handle cases related to labor rights and current state affairs. After 2002 presidential election had ended, in January of 2003, president-elect Roh Moo-hyun said to Moon Jae-in and Lee Ho-cheol, one of Roh’s secretaries.

“You made me walk into politics, and made me president. Now you have to take responsibilities.”

Translated by Kim Joon-ki, Hankyoreh English Intern

　

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]