On Wednesday (10th May) the liberal leader Moon Jae-in was sworn in as president of South Korea. But what faces the new leader going forwards?

Problems at home

It is clear that Jae-in faces a number of challenges, both at home and abroad. Above all else, the main domestic issue that needs resolving is the economy. As Karishma Vaswani stated on BBC, people ae suffering at the presence of the powerful few, youth unemployment is close to 10 per cent and there is no real room for "small and medium sized enterprises, which are the "life-blood of an economy".

As a result, people want and feel "it's time for change".

And abroad

However, the major problem is that the domestic concerns are being drowned out and overtaken by problems abroad, in particular with regards to North Korea. Jae-in was sworn in amidst the need to navigate the country "out of rising tensions" over North Korea's nuclear problem, according to the CNBC website. In addition, Moon also stated that he was ready to negotiate with China and the US over the controversial anti-missile system.

However, what is most interesting is that Moon stated that, under the right circumstances, he would be "prepared to visit North Korea". Whatever is to happen, the region needs stability. The US and N Korea are doing nobody any good by increasing tensions. We need calm heads and restraint in ensuring that nobody goes to war which will be devastating for all.