Exactly one year ago,… Moon Jae-in took charge of the top office and became the country's first liberal president in nearly a decade.
With an open approach to government,... he currently has an approval rating of over 80-percent.
Won Jung-hwan recaps the first year of Moon Jae-in's tenure at the Blue House.
Moon Jae-in was sworn into office the same day as the final votes were counted,… marking his first day at the Blue House on May 10th.
Unlike other presidential elections,… there was no transition period between election and inauguration as the election came about from former President Park Geun-hye's impeachment.
And that could be why President Moon, also known as candlelight movement president, has sought to change the way politics is done in Korea, even looking to rewrite the Constitution.
"This is the start of a great history of building a nation worthy of the name. Please be part of this journey with me."
President Moon's efforts to bring about changes with the new administration can be witnessed by small things like how he takes a stroll with his Blue House staff holding a coffee in a cordial and friendly manner.
"Raising an objection against the president's orders is not something you should hesitate over,… it is your obligation."
President Moon has vowed to communicate more actively with the public, and actions such as stepping away from his guarded convoy to shake hands with the public, or showing sincere condolence at the site of disasters like fires and earthquakes, sets him apart from his authoritarian predecessors.
"On behalf of the South Korean government, I sincerely apologize and show my condolence to all those victims."
He has also improved ties with Beijing and tried to resolve the conflict over the THAAD missile system deployment.
And as for the Korean Peninsula,… Moon Jae-in has played a significant role in building towards peace with Pyongyang.
"Please note that this is a special Winter Olympics, in which peace has begun."
President Moon invited North Korea to the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics,... and the North sent a delegation to PyeongChang,... starting the atmosphere of reconciliation between the two Koreas.
The 'Peace Olympics' restored confidence in Moon as the 'driver' for a peaceful resolution of the Korean crisis, and helped secure Kim Jong Un's first agreement to hold an Inter-Korean Summit, and a possible meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
That historic inter-Korean summit took place last month, resulting in the Panmunjom Declaration.
Right after his highly anticipated meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un,… Moon's approval rating saw a 10 percentage point spike from the previous week.
His current approval rating is at 83-percent, but Moon's ratings have remained in the 70 percent range or higher throughout his first year in office-- the highest ratings of any South Korean president.
Just twelve months into his tenure as president, Moon is on the verg
