Moon Jae-in sworn in as South Korea’s president

South Korea’s new president, Moon Jae-in, has been sworn in a day after he was declared president in a decisive election victory.

According to Press TV, Moon took the oath of office in Seoul’s National Assembly building on Wednesday to begin his five-year term in office.

The surprising speed with which Moon assumed office — one day after election — was because the country’s former President, Park Geun-hye, had been impeached and removed from office, leaving a caretaker government in control.

Just moments after Moon officially began his term, he declared his willingness to work for peace with North Korea. While tensions are high over the North’s nuclear and missile programs, Moon said he backed engagement with Pyongyang.

“If needed, I will fly to Washington immediately,” he said. “I will also go to Beijing and Tokyo and even Pyongyang in the right circumstances... I will do everything I can to build peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

The South’s 19th president — the son of refugees from North Korea — during his campaign advocated for a combination of negotiations and economic cooperation alongside military and security measures in dealing with the North.

Engagement with the North, however, has not been popular with the US, which is Seoul’s decades-long military and political ally and which opposes Pyongyang’s missile and military nuclear activities.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has several times warned that all options, including a military strike, were being considered to halt Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear activities, which North Korea says act as deterrence against a potential invasion by its adversaries.

But the Trump administration has not been consistent, and, amid all the hostile posturing, the US president has said he would be honored to meet with North Korea’s leader.

Moon, who has faced criticism from opponents in his country for being anti-American, reassured them that he was on the “same page” as Trump.

The new president, however, seems not to be in agreement with Washington over the deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in his country.

ME