Crushing by-election defeat stymies Moon s reform, peace initiatives
Posted : 2021-04-08 16:40
Updated : 2021-04-08 16:55 President Moon Jae-in speaks during a meeting with his aides and secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
With Wednesday s by-elections to pick new mayors for Seoul and Busan ending in a crushing defeat for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), observers say President Moon Jae-in is now likely to rapidly lose his grip on state affairs.
They said the elections will also affect Moon s peace initiative for the Korean Peninsula, as Pyongyang is anticipated to strengthen its perception of inter-Korean relations as subordinate to those it has with the U.S., especially as the South Korean leader increasingly becomes a lame duck president.