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Moon Returning Home to Face Tough Domestic Politics

Write: 2018-12-04 12:47:56

Thumbnail : YONHAP News

Anchor: President Moon Jae-in has wrapped up his three-nation tour and is now on his way back home. 
As our Kim Bum-soo reports, Moon appears to have found a solution to the stalled Washington-Pyongyang dialogue during his trip but he will now have to face thorny domestic politics, including the struggling economy.

Report: President Moon Jae-in has wrapped up his eight-day three nation tour.

On the last leg of his trip, the South Korean president made a state visit to New Zealand, where he held talks with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday.

At the joint news conference, the two leaders revealed they discussed ways to link New Zealand's Pacific reset policy and South Korea's New Southern Policy, as well as, North Korea issues.

[Sound bite: President Moon Jae-in (Korean)]
"There is a possibility that Chairman Kim Jong-un's Seoul visit may be made within the year. But what is more important than whether the visit will be made within the year or not is that Chairman Kim's visit to Seoul may further promote North Korea's denuclearization and lead to greater progress."
 
[Sound bite: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (English)]
"New Zealand's stance on nuclear non-proliferation is clear and it is our hope that 2019 will see further progress towards achieving denuclearization of North Korea in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner and an enduring peace on the Korean Peninsula."

During his trip, Moon attended the G20 summit in Argentina, where he sat down with U.S. President Donald Trump. 

Aboard the presidential plane on his way to Auckland, Moon revealed a preferred sequence of dialogue among Seoul, Washington and Pyongyang, in which North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would first visit Seoul and then hold his second summit with Trump. The new roadmap is a reversal to what was originally envisioned. 

Moon appears to have made headway on the stalled Washington-Pyongyang talks with his solution to the scheduling issue. But after returning home Tuesday night, he will have to face thorny domestic politics, which he controversially refused to discuss during an in-flight question-and-answer session with reporters on his way to Auckland.

In a recent poll, Moon's approval rating dipped below 50 percent for the first time amid concerns over his income-led growth strategy and alleged illicit activities of his civil affairs staff. 
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.

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