Moon Jae-in must brave stalled North Korea talks, a slowing economy and a demanding US in his third year as president

Despite the challenges he faces, South Korea’s president has a sterling track record of negotiations – with both the US and North Korea – plus a secure economic foundation to stand on

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South Korean President Moon Jae-in set off a year of summits last spring by meeting Kim Jong-un and promoting direct talks between Kim and Donald Trump. Photo: South Korea Presidential Blue House via AP

Published: 11:00am, 10 May 2019Updated: 7:01pm, 10 May 2019

As South Korean President Moon Jae-in begins the third year of his single five-year term, he faces major challenges. Looming large are the stalled nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea – a situation exacerbated by Pyongyang’s two weapons tests in the past week, both overseen by Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un himself.

A little over a year ago, Moon bravely initiated what could be called “the year of summits”, when he met Kim on the south side of the military demarcation line in Panmunjum. Since then, he has met Kim twice more (in May and September 2018).

That initial meeting with Kim paved the way for all the summits that followed, including two between US President Donald Trump and Kim, and one between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kim. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is now also said to be contemplating a summit with Kim.

All are a direct result of Moon’s opening. This is a stunning run of diplomatic activity and a sharp departure from a past dominated by multiparty talks and conventional, bottom-up diplomacy as the modus operandi in dealing with North Korea.

Until the recent diplomatic impasse following the Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi in February, bilateral relations between the North and South had thawed. The military hot line was restarted and a North-South liaison office opened in Kaesong, the industrial complex north of the demilitarised zone.

There are tight limits, however, on resuming inter-Korean economic cooperation projects, since they would require that an exception be carved out from existing US and UN economic sanctions. This stalemate was painfully evident when South Korea last month staged a celebratory event on the anniversary of the first Kim-Moon summit – and North Korea declined to participate. Aptly, the title of the celebration was “The Long Journey”. Nonetheless, the diplomatic achievements of the last year are an impressive testament to Moon’s persistence.

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