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Korea’s ‘commie’ Moon: the real winner of the Winter Olympics?

South Korean President Moon Jae-in took a calculated risk in engaging North Korea. If things go right, the Games could make his presidency

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Does South Korean President Moon Jae-in look like a communist? Photo: AP

“Is Moon Jae-in pinko?” asked the title of a Korea Times op-ed published last year. Written by a senior editor, the piece began: “Some detractors of Moon Jae-in would call him and his supporters a bunch of commies and claim that they shouldn’t be trusted to run the country.” This is the stock criticism of members of the South Korean left – that they are closet communists, with Moon often held up as a shining example.

While it is too early to tell if Moon’s presidency is a success, it is already clear his legacy will be determined by his approach to North Korea.

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Having taken an enormous political risk in courting the North since coming to power last year and turning this Winter Olympic Games into an unlikely chance to bring peace to the peninsula, Moon could turn out to be the real winner of the Games. Or its biggest loser.
People protest against the unified Korea female ice hockey team in Incheon ahead of the Winter Games. Photo: AFP
People protest against the unified Korea female ice hockey team in Incheon ahead of the Winter Games. Photo: AFP

“Critics call him a red – a communist – because his approach to North Korea is dovish,” Tae Ki-soo, Moon’s biographer, told NPR in May. But Tae said he didn’t see that as a bad thing. “Moon treats North Koreans as human beings – because of his parents.”

Moon’s parents were North Koreans who defected in 1950 aboard the SS Meredith Victory, the ship that evacuated more than 14,000 refugees in a single trip during the Korean War. “They despised the North Korean Communist regime,” Moon told CNN in September. “They fled to seek freedom.”

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