South Korea's new liberal President Moon Jae-in was
sworn in on Wednesday and vowed to immediately tackle the difficult tasks of
addressing North Korea's advancing
nuclear ambitions and soothing tensions with
the United States and China.
Moon said in his first speech as president he would
immediately begin efforts to defuse security tensions on the Korean peninsula
and negotiate with Washington and Beijing to ease the row over a U.S. missile
defense system being deployed in the South.
In his first key appointments, Moon named two liberal
veterans with ties to the "Sunshine Policy" of engagement with North
Korea from the 2000s to the posts of prime minister and spy chief.
Moon named Suh Hoon, a career spy agency official and
a veteran of inter-Korea ties, as the head of the National Intelligence Service
(NIS). Suh was instrumental in setting up two previous summits between the
North and South.
Veteran liberal politician Lee Nak-yon was nominated
to serve as prime minister. Now a regional governor, Lee was a political ally
of the two former presidents who held the summits with the North in 2000 and
2007,
Lee's appointment requires parliamentary approval.
Moon was expected to fill the remaining cabinet and
presidential staff appointments swiftly to bring an end to a power vacuum left
by the removal of Park Geun-hye in March in a corruption scandal that rocked
South Korea's business and political elite.
"I will urgently try to solve the security
crisis," Moon said in the domed rotunda hall of the parliament building.
"If needed, I will fly straight to Washington. I will go to Beijing and
Tokyo and, if the conditions are right, to Pyongyang also."
Spy chief nominee Suh said Moon could go to Pyongyang
if it was clear the visit would help resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis
and ease military tension on the Korean peninsula.
The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area
Defense System (THAAD) in the South has angered China, Seoul's major trading
partner, which sees the U.S. system's powerful radar as a threat to its
security.
The issue has clouded efforts to rein in North Korea's
nuclear and missile programs, and also led to recriminations by Beijing against
South Korean companies.
Moon, 64, also pledged to sever what he described as
the collusive ties between business and government that have plagued many of
South Korea's family-run conglomerates, known as chaebol, and vowed to be an
incorruptible leader.
"I take this office empty-handed, and I will
leave the office empty-handed," Moon said.
Moon met leaders of opposition parties before his
simple swearing-in ceremony at parliament and promised to coordinate better
with them on national security issues.
Office workers and passersby lined the streets as
Moon's motorcade passed through central Seoul en route to the presidential Blue
House from parliament.
Moon stood and waved to well-wishers through the
sunroof of his limousine, which was flanked by police motorbikes and a security
detail.
(For a graphic on South Korea's election demographics,
click tmsnrt.rs/2pGD25v)
TRUST, UNDERSTANDING
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe both congratulated Moon on Wednesday. Xi said China was
willing to handle disputes with South Korea "appropriately" on the
basis of mutual trust and understanding.
Abe said in a statement he looked forward to working
with Moon to improve bilateral relations, describing Seoul as one of Japan's
"most important regional neighbors".
The decision by the ousted Park's government to host
the controversial THAAD system has already proved a headache for Moon as Seoul
tries to walk a fine line between Washington, its closest security ally, and
China.
Moon has said the decision had been made hastily and
his government should have the final say on whether to deploy it.
As president, Moon must find a way to coax an
increasingly belligerent North Korea to ease its nuclear and missile threats.
Pyongyang has conducted its fifth nuclear test and a series of missile launches
since the start of last year, ratcheting up tension on the peninsula.
Washington wants to increase pressure on Pyongyang
through further isolation and sanctions, in contrast to Moon's advocacy for
greater engagement with the reclusive North.
In one of his first acts as president, Moon spoke by
telephone with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lee Sun-jin. A separate
statement from Moon's Democratic Party said he was briefed on the status of the
North Korean military and South Korea's military readiness.
Moon's election could add volatility to relations with
Washington, given his questioning of the THAAD deployment, but was not expected
to change the alliance significantly, a U.S. official said.
The White House also congratulated Moon, saying it
looked forward to working with him to strengthen the longstanding U.S.-South Korea
alliance.
The National Election Commission confirmed Moon's win
shortly after 8 a.m. on Wednesday (7.00 p.m. ET on Tuesday).
Moon must also try to mend a society badly bruised by
the corruption scandal that doomed Park's administration.
His party lacks a majority in a divided parliament. To
push through major initiatives, including creating 500,000 jobs annually and
reforming the country's powerful family-run conglomerates, he will need to
forge partnerships with some of those he fought on his path to the presidency.
Moon won with 41.1 percent of the votes but that
seemingly comfortable margin belied a deep ideological and generational divide
in the country of 51 million people.
Data from an exit poll conducted by South Korea's top
three television networks showed that, while Moon won the majority of votes
cast by those under the age of 50, conservative rival Hong Joon-pyo found
strong support among voters in their 60s and 70s.
*REUTERS*
0 Comments