President Moon to make the Time 100 list

South Korean President Moon Jae-in was chosen Thursday as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2018. On the same day, Fortune magazine revealed that President Moon was ranked fourth on the Fortune’s list of World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.

Time magazine acclaimed Moon for his efforts to resolve the nuclear crisis with North Korea in a peaceful manner. “Moon Jae-in was quick to visit me in the hospital in Seoul after I was attacked by a knife-wielding pro–North Korean nationalist while serving as U.S. ambassador in 2015,” former U.S. ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert wrote in his introduction of Moon. “Befitting his reputation, Moon, then the opposition leader, was compassionate and engaged. He shared with me a Korean proverb, ‘The ground hardens after the rain,’ and we spoke of how crisis begets opportunity. Moon has made dramatic moves with regard to North Korea.”

Time magazine showed its keen interest in fast changing security landscape on the Korean Peninsula by picking the leaders of other countries involved in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue. U.S. President Donald Trump, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe all made the list.

Fortune magazine says President Moon Jae-in has contributed to opening talks with North Korea. “Moon has been pivotal in arranging talks between President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un,” wrote Fortune. It also positively eval‎uated President Moon’s domestic reform saying that “Moon speedily enacted reforms aimed at creating a fairer economy, such as boosting the minimum wage.” Moon ranked highest on the list among political leaders.


Gi-Jae Han record@donga.com