Moon Jae-in will be sworn in as the 12th president of South Korea today. In a decisive victory, the 64-year old human rights lawyer beat his closest opponent with almost twice the number of votes. The new president will officially begin his term today after the country's commission on elections confirmed his victory.
The country's leadership position has been empty for the past few months following the forced removal of Park Geun-Hye back in March. The previous president was implicated in a massive corruption scandal that also involved the scion of Samsung Electronics, Lee Jae-Yong.
The Democratic Party candidate won the election by a 41.1 percent vote. Coming in second place is the conservative candidate Hong Joon-Pyo with 25.5 percent and third is centrist Ahn Cheol-soo with 21.4 percent.
Who is Moon Jae-in?
Mr. Moon experienced a lot of hardships in his youth being a son of a refugee who had fled North Korea during the Hamhung Retreat. Similar to his fellow countrymen, Moon also served in South Korea's military and was assigned to its special forces. Shortly after his service to the military, Moon passed the bar exams but was not permitted to become a judge or a prosecutor due to a previous arrest.
A liberal activist
In the 1970s, Moon was jailed while he was just a student due to his participation in a protest against the South Korean president and dictator Park Chun-hee, who was also Park Geun-hye's father.
Moon is currently the second Roman Catholic president in the country right after the 8th President of South Korea, Kim Dae-Jung.
The new president's political platform
In a departure from previous political policies, Moon has been adamant in his promise to "unify a divided country." The new president wants to open new negotiations and talks with North Korea.
According to local reporters, the new president has apparently already met with military leaders in the country to discuss domestic security and their current plans for North Korea.
Aside from the situation with their northern brethren, Moon has also promised to bolster the country's economy. To achieve this, Moon plans to reform the country's family-run conglomerates, known locally as chaebols, who have thus far been monopolizing the different business sectors.
The reform should give smaller business equal opportunity within the market, which in turn will result in a more robust economy that isn't as prone to corruption. The move is also seen as one solution the country's ongoing youth unemployment issue.
