Moon Jae-in. If you mention that name in a crowded Seoul subway today, you’ll get two very different reactions. Some people see him as the "nice guy" who tried to stop a war. Others? They blame him for the fact that they can’t afford a two-bedroom apartment without winning the lottery.
He’s complicated.
Honestly, the legacy of Moon Jae-in South Korea is shifting as we hit 2026. With the recent political chaos involving his successors—including the wild martial law decree of 2024 and the subsequent impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol—Moon’s five years in the Blue House are being looked at through a totally new lens. People are suddenly nostalgic for his "stability," even if they hated his housing policies.
The North Korea Gamble: Did it Actually Work?
When Moon took office in 2017, things were scary. Donald Trump was tweeting about "fire and fury." Kim Jong Un was testing nukes. War felt like a real, terrifying possibility.
Moon basically bet his entire presidency on peace. He was the "mediator." You remember those photos of him and Kim Jong Un holding hands and crossing the border? Or the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics? Those weren't just photo ops. They were desperate attempts to cool down a boiling pot.
But here is the catch. By 2026, North Korea has officially labeled the South as its "principal enemy." The unification goal? Scrapped by Pyongyang.
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Critics say Moon’s "Sunshine" 2.0 was just expensive daydreaming. They argue he gave Kim Jong Un time to build more missiles while the South got nothing but a blown-up liaison office in Kaesong. Still, his supporters point to the fact that during his five years, nobody was dying in border skirmishes. It was a "cold peace," but it was peace.
The Real Estate Nightmare That Broke the Liberal Base
You can't talk about Moon Jae-in South Korea without talking about the "Apartment Crisis." This is where he lost the youth.
Moon’s team passed over 25 different sets of real estate regulations. They tried everything:
- Higher taxes on people who owned multiple homes.
- Mortgage caps that made it nearly impossible for first-time buyers to get a loan.
- Limits on "jeonse" (the unique Korean lump-sum rental system) that backfired and sent rents skyrocketing.
The result? Housing prices in Seoul basically doubled. Imagine being 28, working 50 hours a week at Samsung or a startup, and realizing you’ll never own a home because the prices rose faster than you could ever save. That resentment is what eventually handed the presidency to the conservatives. It wasn't about ideology; it was about the rent being too high.
A Legal Storm at the Retirement Home
Life in Yangsan hasn't been the quiet retirement Moon probably wanted.
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In April 2025, prosecutors indicted Moon on corruption charges. This is a classic South Korean political cycle—the "vortex of revenge" as some call it. The case involves his son-in-law getting a high-paying job at Thai Eastar Jet, an airline allegedly tied to a former lawmaker from Moon’s party. Prosecutors claim the salary was essentially a bribe for Moon.
Moon’s party calls it a political witch hunt. It’s a mess.
What’s wild is that Moon is one of the few presidents who left office with an approval rating over 40%. That’s unheard of in Korea. Even with the legal drama, he remains a figurehead for the liberal movement. He’s the bridge between the old-school activists of the 1980s and the modern, digital-savvy DPK (Democratic Party of Korea) supporters.
Why he matters in 2026
With the current administration under President Lee Jae-myung trying to navigate a fractured country, Moon’s "inclusive growth" and "K-防疫" (K-Defense) pandemic strategies are being revisited. He wasn't perfect. He was often criticized for being too "soft" or "reserved," letting his cabinet members take the heat while he stayed quiet.
But compared to the high-stakes drama and "martial law" scares of the last couple of years, many Koreans are starting to see the Moon era as a time of predictable, if flawed, governance.
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Practical Takeaways: Understanding the Legacy
If you are trying to understand how South Korea got to where it is today, you have to look at these three things Moon left behind:
1. The "Two-State" Reality: Moon was likely the last president to truly believe in "One Korea" in our lifetime. Because his efforts failed to reach a permanent deal, the current policy has shifted toward deterrence and seeing the North as a separate, hostile nation.
2. The Wealth Gap: The real estate failure created a "lost generation" of homeowners. This is fueling the low birth rate crisis. If you're looking at Korean demographics, start with the 2019-2021 housing surge.
3. The Prosecution Reform War: Moon’s attempt to strip the prosecution of its massive power is what turned Yoon Suk Yeol (his own appointee!) into a political star and his eventual rival. Most of the political infighting you see in Korean news today is a direct hangover from this battle.
For a deeper understanding of the current political landscape, monitor the ongoing "Thai Eastar" court case and the 2026 local elections, which will serve as a final referendum on the liberal policies Moon Jae-in championed.