MOON
Jae-in

• 1. Early life, education and military service

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 (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 mentor Roh Moo-hyun in his successful 2002 presidential bid[8] 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 in 2017 as the Democratic Party's candidate following the impeachment and removal of Park Geun-hye. 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. During Moon's response to the COVID-19 pandemic he has received praise domestically and internationally and helped his party win a historic victory in the 2020 legislative election.

Moon was included in Time magazine's list of 100 Most Influential People of 2018.

Early life, education and military service

Moon Jae-in was born just short of the end of the Korean War in Geoje, South Korea as the second child and oldest son among five children of father Moon Yong-hyung and mother Kang Han-ok.

His parents were refugees from South Hamgyeong Province, North Korea who fled their native city of Hungnam during the Hungnam evacuation during the Korean War. His father, Moon Yong-hyung, worked as head of agriculture department who detains food, especially rice of Korean colonial people as one of the main tasks at the Heungnam, Hamju, South Hamgyong Province.

His family eventually settled in Busan. Since his father did not want to become a government employee, as he had been in North Korea, his father started a business selling socks, which left his family in great debt. His mother became the main earner by selling clothes received from relief organisations and delivering briquettes. Moon's family became attached to the Catholic Church when his mother went to the local cathedral to receive whole milk powder.

Moon once said in an interview that he didn't know how to ride a bike since his family was too desperately poor to afford a bike or monthly school tuition.

Moon entered Kyungnam High School and is reportedly placed at the top of his class. He was accepted to study law at Kyung Hee University with a full scholarship. At university, he met his future wife, Kim Jung-sook.

After organising a student protest against the Yushin Constitution, he was arrested, convicted, imprisoned and expelled from the university.

Later, he was conscripted into the military and assigned to the South Korean special forces, where he participated in "Operation Paul Bunyan" during the axe murder incident in Panmunjom.

After his discharge, the death of his father influenced him to decide to take the bar exam. He went into Daeheungsa, the Buddhist temple, to study for the exam and passed the first of two rounds in 1979.

In 1980 he returned to the university to complete his remaining year of his studies.

Later that year, he passed the second round and he was admitted to the Judicial Research and Training Institute. He graduated from the Institute as the second in his class but was not admitted to become a judge or state prosecutor due to his history of activism against the Yushin dictatorship under Park Chung-hee's rule as a student. Moon chose to go into private practice instead.