Dynamics in the Korean Peninsula shifting

THE election of Moon Jae-in as South Korea's president marks the re-emergence of a major player that had been silenced for five crucial months because of the country's political paralysis, which ended with the impeachment and arrest of his conservative predecessor, Park Geun-hye.

Mr Moon in many ways is the opposite of Park. He is a liberal who, as a student activist, was imprisoned by Park Chung-hee, the father of the last president. A former human rights lawyer, he has made known his desire to improve relations with both North Korea and China, while insisting that the alliance with the United States will remain the anchor of Seoul's diplomacy and security.

Elected on May 9 and sworn in the next day, Mr Moon began immediately to tackle issues that had piled up over the previous months.