Moon says he owes 'candlelight revolution'

President Moon Jae-in receives a Global Citizen Award from Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, during an awards ceremony at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City, Tuesday. / Yonhap

President wins Global Citizen Award

By Jun Ji-hye

President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday that his election through the peaceful ouster of his scandal-hit predecessor has brought new hope to world democracy.

He made the remarks in New York City after receiving the Global Citizen Award from the Atlantic Council, a U.S. institution dealing with international affairs.

Moon is one of three winners of the annual award, along with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chinese pianist Lang Lang.

"Now the new Republic of Korea will move toward economic democracy and peace," Moon said. "The people of the Republic of Korea and I are in the process of making a new paradigm of economic democracy called a people-centered economy."

Noting that Seoul has contributed a new chapter in the history of world democracy, Moon also said his country is capable of presenting a solution for low-growth and economic polarization, which is a global concern.

"The award I receive today may also contain encouragement and support from peoples around the world for me to accomplish peace on the Korean Peninsula for the sake of world peace," he said. "I am confident that after realizing peace on the Korean Peninsula, there will be a time when we can talk about the history of peace achieved by the Republic of Korea."

Moon was elected president on the May 9 rare presidential by-election after former President Park Geun-hye was removed from office for a massive corruption scandal. Until Park's ouster, Korean citizens staged massive candlelit rallies for her resignation for months at Gwanghwamun Square. Park is currently on trial.

Calling himself a president born out of the "Candlelight Revolution," Moon said he wanted to dedicate his award to the people who carried their candles on the streets throughout last winter.

"On their own strength, they exercised their right to hold such a president accountable for wrongdoing through impeachment," Moon said. "They rescued democracy, which was in jeopardy, in the most peaceful and admirable manner and helped launch a new administration."

Moon said the Korean people demonstrated to the citizens of the world the constitutional proposition that "all state authority shall emanate from the people," and made it clear that a president is just one of the people.

He stressed that months-long massive rallies participated in by some 17 million people made no acts of violence or arrest from the beginning to the end.

"The rallies went on like peaceful and civilized festivals," Moon said, adding that they deserve to even receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Moon then introduced some events in the modern history of Korea, in which the people dedicated themselves to achieving democracy and economic development.

He cited the April 19 revolution in 1960, in which thousands of students demonstrated against the autocratic leader Syngman Rhee, and the May 18 pro-democracy movement in 1980 that occurred in the southern city of Gwangju against the military junta led by Chun Doo-hwan, then an Army general.

"Many lives were lost," he said. "Ordinary people risked everything to uphold most ordinary common sense. This civil uprising was a very significant chapter in Korea's democracy."

Another breakthrough for Korean democracy came through the June struggle in 1987 that led to a constitutional revision to enact a direct presidential vote, Moon noted.

"The united strength they displayed in working to realize democracy was the same strength that brought the country back from the brink of default in the 1997 Asian financial crisis and helped it weather the global economic crisis caused by the 2008 financial crisis," Moon said.

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