Moon Jae-in offers South Korea stability after turmoil

Moon Jae-in offers South Korea stability after turmoil Former refugee, special forces soldier and human rights lawyer sets out on reform mission Read next S Korea’s Moon offers olive branch at inauguration Moon Jae-in greets his supporters in Seoul on Monday

 . A former human rights lawyer and the son of impoverished North Korean refugees, the 64-year-old political veteran has long been known as a man of quiet principle — a reputation earned in part due to his lack of obvious charisma. “Always very, very serious,” is the pithy conclusion of an aide in his liberal-leaning Democratic party. But his probity will be appreciated by South Koreans appalled by the vast and at times lurid corruption scandal into former president Park Geun-hye. Born in an island refugee camp in January 1953, a few months before the end of the Korean war, Mr Moon found solace at an early age in the Catholic church, which provided meals for him and his four siblings. After attending a prestigious high school in Busan, he studied law at Kyung Hee University, where he organised protests against the regime of strongman Park Chung-hee — the father of the recently impeached president. He was later conscripted into the nation’s special forces and trained to parachute behind North Korean lines, plant explosives and fight his way out. A 40-year-old black-and-white photograph of Mr Moon wearing a beret surfaces whenever questions arise about his national security credentials. When the corruption saga spilled into the public realm in October, Mr Moon moved to burnish his pro-reform credentials, establishing himself as a fixture at anti-Park demonstrations and spearheading a parliamentary impeachment bid. He has since pledged a host of economic, corporate and political reforms, including a promise to move the presidential office from the palatial Blue House to central government premises.