page_title: Moon Jae-in
hierarchical_section_title: Moon Jae-in
caption_attribution_description: President Donald J. Trump participates in a bilateral meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in Monday, Sept. 23, 2019, at the InterContinental New York Barclay in New York City. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
context_page_description: Moon Jae-In is the current President of South Korea, having taken office in 2017. He previously served as chief of staff to then-president Roh Moo-hyun, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea and a member of the 19th National Assembly.
  Born to North Korean refugees, Moon was raised in poverty in the southern port city of Busan. Moon excelled in school and studied law at Kyung Hee University. He became involved in human rights activism and was later imprisoned for organising a protest against the Yushin Constitution. As a result of his work in human rights law, Moon was chosen to be the campaign manager for his longtime friend Roh Moo-hyun in his successful 2002 presidential bid and served in his administration in various official capacities. In 2012, Moon was a candidate for the Democratic United Party in the 2012 presidential election, in which he lost narrowly to Park Geun-hye; Park was aided in this election by security services.
  Moon was elected president after the impeachment of Park Geun-hye as the candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea in 2017.
context_section_description: Moon Jae-In (Korean: 문재인; Hanja: 文在寅; [mun.dʑɛ.in]; born January 24, 1953) is the current President of South Korea, having taken office in 2017. He previously served as chief of staff to then-president Roh Moo-hyun (2007–2008), leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (2015–2016) and a member of the 19th National Assembly (2012–2016).
  Born to North Korean refugees, Moon was raised in poverty in the southern port city of Busan. Moon excelled in school and studied law at Kyung Hee University. He became involved in human rights activism and was later imprisoned for organising a protest against the Yushin Constitution. As a result of his work in human rights law, Moon was chosen to be the campaign manager for his longtime friend Roh Moo-hyun in his successful 2002 presidential bid and served in his administration in various official capacities. In 2012, Moon was a candidate for the Democratic United Party in the 2012 presidential election, in which he lost narrowly to Park Geun-hye; Park was aided in this election by security services. 
  Moon was elected president after the impeachment of Park Geun-hye as the candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea in 2017. As president, Moon Jae-in 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, Moon met with both North Korean chairman Kim Jong-un and United States president Donald Trump at the Korean Demilitarized Zone.
  Moon is a liberal who favors a peaceful reunification with North Korea. On economic policy, Moon 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. Moon's response to the COVID-19 pandemic has received praise domestically and internationally and helped his party win a historic victory in the 2020 legislative election.
caption: Moon in 2019
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