Moon Jae-in, 19th President of South Korea
Moon Jae-in (Korean: 문재인; Hanja: 文在寅; Korean pronunciation: [mun.dʑɛ.in]; born January 24, 1953) is a South Korean politician and former civil rights lawyer who has been serving as the president of South Korea since 2017.Prior to his presidency, he served as senior secretary for civil affairs as well as chief of staff to Roh Moo-hyun, member of the 19th National Assembly, and leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).
Born to North Korean refugees, Moon was raised in poverty in the southern port city of Busan. He excelled in school and studied law at Kyung Hee University. He became a lawyer and later 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 the 2002 South Korean presidential election campaign manager for his longtime mentor Roh Moo-hyun in his successful bid. He served in Roh's administration in various official capacities. In 2012, Moon was a candidate for the Democratic United Party in the 2012 South Korean presidential election, in which he lost narrowly to Park Geun-hye; Park was aided in this election by domestic intelligence services.In the 2017 South Korean presidential election, Moon was elected president as the DPK candidate following the impeachment of Park Geun-hye and her subsequent removal. As president, Moon has achieved international attention for his meetings with North Korean chairman 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 Donald Trump, the president of the United States, at the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
Moon favors the Sunshine Policy, a peaceful Korean reunification. On economic policy, he favors reform of chaebols (conglomerates), has raised the minimum wage by more than 16 percent, and lowered the maximum workweek from 68 to 52 hours. During the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, Moon has received praise domestically and internationally, and helped his party win a historic victory in the 2020 South Korean legislative election.