SEOUL: The shine is starting to come off South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s engagement strategy with the North. Economic woes such as a lacklustre job-market growth and soaring real estate prices are compounding Moon’s problems, adding to opposition to his North Korea policy, many experts say. “If the economy gets worse, many people will demand that Moon stop looking to North Korea and start resolving our own economic problems.”Moon knows how important public support is for his North Korea policy. Most major detente projects with North Korea started by his liberal predecessors during a 1998-2008 “Sunshine Era” were suspended after conservatives took power. Moon hasn’t been able to revive them because of US-led economic sanctions on North Korea.

Source: The Star September 17, 2018 00:33 UTC