SEOUL, South Korea – New South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday he was open to visiting rival North Korea under the right conditions to talk about Pyongyang’s aggressive pursuit of nuclear-tipped missiles.
Moon’s softer stance on North Korea could create friction with Washington, which has swung from threats of military action to hints of dialogue as it seeks to formulate a policy under President Donald Trump.
Moon, speaking during his formal oath of office, also said he’ll “sincerely negotiate” with the United States, Seoul’s top ally, and China, South Korea’s top trading partner, over the contentious deployment of an advanced U.S. missile-defense system in southern South Korea. The system has angered Beijing, which says its powerful radars allow Washington to spy on its own military operations.
In a speech at the National Assembly hours after being declared the winner of Tuesday’s election, Moon pledged to work for peace on the Korean Peninsula amid growing worry over the North’s expanding nuclear weapons and missiles program.
“I will quickly move to solve the crisis in national security. I am willing to go anywhere for the peace of the Korean Peninsula – if needed, I will fly immediately to Washington. I will go to Beijing and I will go to Tokyo. If the conditions shape up, I will go to Pyongyang,” Moon said.
Moon, whose victory capped one of the most turbulent political stretches in the nation’s recent history and set up its first liberal rule in a decade, assumed presidential duties early in the morning after the National Election Commission finished counting and declared him winner of the special election necessitated by the ousting of conservative Park Geun-hye.
He is also expected to nominate a prime minister, the country’s No. 2 job that requires approval from lawmakers, and name his presidential chief of staff during the day.
Taking up duties as commander in chief, Moon received a call from Army Gen. Lee Sun-jin, chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, who briefed him on the military’s preparedness against North Korea.
He then left his him, receiving an emotional send-off from hundreds of residents, before visiting a national cemetery in Seoul. After bowing to honor the former presidents, independence fighters and war heroes at the cemetery, Moon wrote “A country worth being proud of; a strong and reliable president!” in a visitor book.
He also visited the offices of opposition parties, seeking support in governing the country split along ideological lines and regional loyalties. His Democratic Party has only 120 seats in the 300-seat National Assembly, so he may need broader support while pushing his key policies.
The leaders of China and Japan sent him congratulatory messages. South Korea’s relations with Japan are strained by the Japanese military’s sexual exploitation of South Korean women during World War II, and relations with China have been strained by the THAAD missile-defense system recently deployed in South Korea. Moon made a campaign vow to reconsider the THAAD deployment.
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