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Moon Jae-in

Newly elected President Moon Jae-in’s foreign policy pledges can be summed up in three points: restoring inter-Korean relations from the disastrous condition nine years of conservative administrations have left them in, loosening South Korea’s increased military dependence on the US, and using a mixture of sanctions and dialogue to solve the North Korean nuclear issue. All are more or less consistent with the Sunshine Policy agenda of the past.

Moon released a list of pledges on Apr. 28, in which he promised to resume operations at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, which was shut down in Feb. 2016, and tourism at the Mt. Keumgang resort, which has been halted since July 2008. His proactive stance was evident in a Facebook message posted in February, which read, “If we can achieve a change in administrations, I will undertake a three-stage expansion of the Industrial Complex to 20 million pyeong [66.1 million square meters].”

But Moon effectively backpedaled on the conditional reopening in remarks made during an Apr. 27 Korea Broadcasting Journalists Club roundtable, saying “a resumption of things like the Kaesong Industrial Complex will not be possible unless dialogue [on the North Korean nuclear issue] is held.”

Moon also pledged to push for the exchange of reunions of divided families and for humanitarian aid such as the building of hospitals under a so-called “Freikauf” approach. The Freikauf approach, which comes from the German for “buying freedom,” was used by West Germany before German reunification and involved payment of cash and goods in exchange for the repatriation of East German political prisoners. Moon also pledged to come up with various solutions on the issue of South Korean POWs and abductees in North Korea and indicated his intent to make North Korean human rights an issue in inter-Korean dialogue.

Another of Moon’s pledges was for National Assembly ratification of agreements by South and North Korean leaders, with the goal of ensuring their consistent implementation by establishing nationwide support. He also announced plans to build an inter-Korean energy and resource belt in the East Sea region and an industry and logistics belt on the West (Yellow) Sea coast and pursue an economic community for eventual integration of the South and North Korean markets.

“Economic integration of South and North could result in an additional 0.8% in average annual growth and 50,000 new jobs being created per year,” Moon said while announcing his “bold vision for denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula” on Apr. 23.

Moon also promised a solution to the North Korean nuclear issue and stated plans to abandon the previous focus on sanctions alone to make use of all available options, including both sanctions and dialogue. As a principle, he proposed phasing in a “simultaneous action” approach by North Korea, the US, and other countries involved rather than insisting that North Korea take action first. Consisting of the simultaneous stepwise introduction of denuclearization measures by Pyongyang and compensation measures by Seoul and Washington in exchange, the simultaneous action approach was applied with the September 19 Joint Statement from the Six-Party Talks in 2005.

But some coordination with the US will be needed, with the latter continuing to pressure Pyongyang to take action and insisting that now is not the time for dialogue. Moon’s blueprint involved pushing ultimately for both North Korea’s total denuclearization and the signing of a peace agreement and establishing mutual armament controls to rule out the possibility of war.

Moon further pledged to work quickly to establish a Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) system and kill chain as part of a “zero tolerance” approach to North Korean military provocations. Another pledge was for the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) from the US to South Korea during his term. South Korea and the US agreed on an Apr. 2012 OPCON transfer during the Roh Moo-hyun administration (2003-08), but the Lee Myung-bak administration (2008-13) deferred it until Dec. 2015. The Park Geun-hye administration (2013-16) postponed it again to the mid-2020s, suggesting the two sides carry out the transfer when the conditions are right, rather than according to a specific timeline.

Additionally, Moon pledged to phase in an increase in soldiers’ pay to 50% of minimum wage by 2020 and to gradually reduce the mandatory military service period to 18 months from its current 21 months. Other pledges for his term included “civilianizing defense” by appointing a civilian as Minister of National Defense and increasing civilian staffing at the Ministry of National Defense and Defense Acquisition Program Administration to 70%.

Moon also said he planned to hold a National Assembly ratification for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system issue, which has become the source of controversy over the rush to deploy it. Moon has stated several times that ratification is necessary to bring the issue into public debate and take advantage of as a diplomatic bargaining chip. With part of the THAAD system already deployed in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, his pledge may not be aimed at the system’s withdrawal.

Moon also pledged to renegotiate the surprise agreement reached by the South Korean and Japanese governments on the comfort women issue on Dec. 28, 2015. On the issue of the South Korea-Japan General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) that was hurriedly signed in Nov. 2016 while Park was facing imminent impeachment, Moon has said he plans to conduct an efficacy examination before deciding whether to the extend the one-year effective period.

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer

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