Rep. Moon Jae-in, chairman of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, showed up at Thursday’s ceremony to honor the 46 South Korean sailors killed in a 2010 torpedo attack blamed on North Korea. A day earlier, he visited a Marine Corps unit near the inter-Korean border, dressed in uniform.

These moves came in line with his efforts to change the public perception that the liberal opposition party remains indifferent to security matters and sympathetic with the North’s recalcitrant regime. Moon, who took the helm of the NPAD in February, was quoted as saying in a meeting with a foreign journalist earlier this month that he supported the stationing of U.S. troops here after an eventual unification of the two Koreas.

He has also tried to convince the people that his party is sincere about and capable of resolving economic difficulties facing the country. Moon and other party policymakers are advocating income-driven growth, arguing a significant increase in wages would result in boosting domestic consumption, which in turn would fuel corporate investment. Despite the critical view that it would lead companies that suffer from declining profits to reduce employment, this approach might prove somewhat instrumental in circumventing obstacles to bolstering growth and improving people’s livelihoods.

In more immediate terms, Moon’s push to reframe the NPAD as a party that takes security and economic issues seriously reflects his wish to strengthen its position ahead of next month’s parliamentary by-elections and the April 2016 general election. But it is apparent that his eventual aim is to recast himself as a more credible and down-to-earth leader in preparation for his nearly certain second presidential challenge in 2017.

In a speech at the Feb. 8 NPAD convention where he was elected its leader, Moon vowed never to repeat having to “shed tears due to a shortage of 1-2 percentage points.” He was apparently referring to his defeat to President Park Geun-hye by a narrow margin in the 2012 election.

It is essential for fulfilling his pledge to draw a wider segment of moderate and independent voters by easing their displeasure at what they see as the opposition party’s ideological rigidness and indifference to crucial tasks confronting the nation. In this regard, Moon made a highly publicized gesture shortly after becoming NPAD chairman by paying tribute to the graves of Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee, the two late conservative presidents criticized by liberals for holding back free democracy despite their respective roles in laying the constitutional and economic foundation of the country.

Moon’s efforts to put his party and himself into a more accommodating and practical mold seem to have so far received favorable response from voters. He has topped the list of potential presidential candidates in a weekly poll of voter support for 11 consecutive weeks. In the latest survey of 2,500 adults conducted by a local pollster last week, his approval rating stood at 24.9 percent, far ahead of ruling Saenuri Party leader Kim Moo-sung and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, who ranked second and third at 11.8 percent and 11.5 percent, respectively.

But he has yet to go through a real test of his character as a national leader and his specific stance on divisive issues.

In his memoir published in 2011, Moon recalled he had felt it unfitting to work at a large law firm when he completed a two-year training course after passing the state-run bar exam. He eventually chose to work with human rights lawyer Roh Moo-hyun, who was elected as president in 2002 and committed suicide amid an investigation into corruption cases involving his associates a year after leaving office in 2008.

This choice showed his moral integrity, a trait rarely found in other politicians. But it may also reveal the limit of his character that he should overcome to reinvent himself as a leader who can listen to corporate executives as well as laborers, ensure social harmony by coordinating conflicting interests and guide the country to play a more active role in the international community.

Moon has often seemed to shun or stay ambiguous on contentious issues. He was criticized for taking a populist approach last month when he proposed conducting an opinion poll on whether parliament should endorse Prime Minister-nominee Lee Wan-koo, whose qualification was questioned by allegations of multiple ethical lapses. He recently blamed the Park administration for its indecisive handling of the issue of allowing the U.S. to deploy an advanced missile defense system without clarifying his own stance. He also remains reluctant to push his party lawmakers to cooperate in passing a raft of bills designed to help boost growth and create more jobs.

Some people have a sense that Moon is still stuck between his intent to get down to earth on substantial issues and pressure from hard-liners around him not to deviate from the liberals’ entrenched positions. If he is to achieve his ultimate political goal, he should avoid giving this impression and put forward his own concrete ideas and forward-looking visions.

What is shaping up as a crucial test of whether he is capable of steering the country in the right direction is the thorny task of reforming the unsustainable public pension system. During a meeting with President Park last week, Moon committed himself to cooperating in completing the work by its deadline set for May 2. Militant members of a civil servants’ union began a sit-in protest at the NPAD headquarters Wednesday after the party unveiled its own version of a reform plan, which they said fell short of their demands.

The daunting task, which had been frustrated due to vehement objections from public employees under the previous administrations, including the Roh government, could only be carried through when the president and the opposition leader joined hands. And Moon might see his full cooperation with Park on it would prove highly useful for heightening his stature as a national leader on the path to the next presidential vote.

By Kim Kyung-ho

Kim Kyung-ho is an editorial writer for The Korea Herald. He can be reached at khkim@heraldcorp.com. ― Ed.