Moon found himself among a core of acolytes determined to preserve Kim Dae-jung’s “Sunshine Policy” toward North Korea. The ex-president’s plea rang in Moon’s ears, even as the latest U.S.-led efforts to disarm the regime and end their unfinished war unraveled.

“That was the decisive moment,” Moon told a group of reporters before his May 2017 election. “He spoke those words as if they were his will.”