The Korea Herald

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Photos of South Korean President Moon when he was younger

By Lim Jeong-yeo

Published : May 16, 2017 - 14:55

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It’s not just President Moon Jae-in’s bodyguard who is gaining attention for his dashing good looks. Old photos of President Moon have been circulating online showing a different side to the newly elected state leader.

The following pictures are not in chronological order.


1. Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook when they were at university. Photo taken on a trip.

(The Minjoo Party of Korea) (The Minjoo Party of Korea)



2. Moon Jae-in and Kim Jung-sook on their wedding day in March, 1981. The President recollected in an interview with a media that it was the First Lady who asked for his hand in marriage. “One day, I was with my friends when she suddenly came up to me and asked, ‘Jae-in, will you marry me or not?’ I was thrown back and answered yes in reflex,” Moon had said. The ‘cute’ anecdote was widely spread online amongst his supporters.

(The Minjoo Party of Korea) (The Minjoo Party of Korea)


3. Moon Jae-in in middle school. 

(The Minjoo Party of Korea) (The Minjoo Party of Korea)


4. Moon Jae-in in high school (center, back). 

(The Minjoo Party of Korea) (The Minjoo Party of Korea)


5. Moon Jae-in with his group of friends in university.
(The Minjoo Party of Korea) (The Minjoo Party of Korea)


6. Moon Jae-in when he was serving in the Army as a Special Forces soldier.
(The Minjoo Party of Korea) (The Minjoo Party of Korea)


7. More photos of Moon Jae-in in military uniform.
(The Minjoo Party of Korea) (The Minjoo Party of Korea)


8. President Moon Jae-in and Seoul City mayor Park Won-soon snapped together on the day they finished the Judicial Research and Training Institute.

(The Minjoo Party of Korea) (The Minjoo Party of Korea)


9. Moon Jae-in in his third year of university. Next to him is his wife Kim Jung-sook and his friends. Photo taken at a law school festival.
(The Minjoo Party of Korea) (The Minjoo Party of Korea)


10. Moon Jae-in and Kim Jung-sook traveling together during university years.
(The Minjoo Party of Korea) (The Minjoo Party of Korea)


11. Moon Jae-in when he was a lawyer. Photo taken in September, 1987.
(The Minjoo Party of Korea) (The Minjoo Party of Korea)
(The Minjoo Party of Korea) (The Minjoo Party of Korea)


12. Moon Jae-in's family portrait taken on a trip during the time he was a lawyer.
(The Minjoo Party of Korea) (The Minjoo Party of Korea)
(The Minjoo Party of Korea) (The Minjoo Party of Korea)


13. Moon Jae-in traveling with his wife Kim Jung-sook when he was still a lawyer.
(The Minjoo Party of Korea) (The Minjoo Party of Korea)


14. Moon Jae-in and Kim Jung-sook on a Himalaya trail in 2004. It was during this time Moon received news that the then-President Roh Moo-hyun had been impeached. 
(The Minjoo Party of Korea) (The Minjoo Party of Korea)



Moon and Kim continue to set the internet alight with videos of Kim sending off her husband to work in the morning, and shoving him out the way of her groceries at a market in Busan.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)