Moon Jae-in, the liberal candidate considered likely to become in South Korea's president, warned the U.S. that rushing to action regarding North Korea could harm the countries'
security alliance, The Washington Post reported.
The warning comes as Moon is one step closer to becoming South Korea’s next president following the impeachment of Park Geun-hye, who was stripped of the presidency in March and is now on trial for bribery charges.
The U.S. installed the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system in South Korea, which became operational Monday, sparking criticism from some opponents who fear the U.S. is circumventing South Korea’s democratic process, The Washington Post reported.
"I don’t believe the U.S. has the intention [to influence our election], but I do have some reservations," Moon told The Post in an interview.
THAAD has the capability of shooting down North Korean missiles. However, some worry that it would make South Korea more of a target, and Moon has pledged to review the decision to deploy it, the Post said.
"It is not desirable for the [caretaker] South Korean government to deploy THAAD hastily at this politically sensitive time, with the presidential election approaching, and without going through the democratic process, an environmental assessment or a public hearing," Moon said, according to the Post.
"If South Korea can have more time to process this matter democratically, the U.S. will gain a higher level of trust from South Koreans and, therefore, the alliance between the two nations will become even stronger," Moon said.
Moon, 64, is a former human rights lawyer and previously served as chief of staff under former president Roh Moo-hyun, according to Fars News Agency (FNA).
Moon has been vocal in the past about South Korea being the ones to make decisions on how to deal with North Korea.
Moon even said he’d be willing to sit down with North Korea’s leader to discuss denuclearization.
"I could sit down with Kim Jong-un, but I will not meet him for the sake of meeting him," he said, according to the Post. "I will meet Kim Jong-un when preconditions of resolving the nuclear issue are assured."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.