Sees US Trying to ‘Box Him In’ With Pre-Election Moves
Polling shows Democratic Party Korea candidate Moon Jae-in as an overwhelming front-runner in the upcoming presidential vote, with more than double the support of any other candidate. He is, however, seen as far from idea from the US perspective, favoring diplomacy with North Korea as he does.
The split between Moon and Trump is so dramatic, in fact, that Moon has felt the need to publicly warn the US against “meddling” in the nation’s politics, not just directly in the election itself, but also with policy decisions made in the lead-up to the election.
Indeed, Moon and his allies warn that the biggest problem is the US rushing through measures in the lame-duck government ahead of the election, noting that agreements on things like the THAAD anti-missile system, and then hastily putting the system in place before any public hearings or environmental assessments were allowed to take place.
Analysts even suggest that President Trump’s talk of making South Korea pay for THAAD might help Moon,, because he is seen as more likely to stand up to the US on the deployment, and doesn’t feel particularly wedded to any agreements on the deployment, which were made in the post-impeachment, pre-election environment specifically to avoid real political debate.
