Moon, a former human rights lawyer and son of North Korean refugees, faces an array of obstacles to realising his vision, which sees a declaration to officially end the Korean war as a pathway to the North’s denuclearisation, inter-Korean reconciliation and eventual reunification.

Divided in the aftermath of World War II, North and South Korea technically remain in a state of war after the 1950-53 conflict ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

“He is committed to achieving peace not only because of legacy politics, but also because of his personal background as a son of North Korean refugees,” said Moon Chung-in, a former adviser to the president who is no relation.

“I do not know whether such efforts will be successful or not,” said Moon, who advised the president on national security and foreign affairs until February of this year.

“However, if the Biden administration shows a more practical and flexible response, such a move will facilitate negotiations on denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula as well as a virtuous cycle of bilateral relations among North Korea, South Korea, and the US.”

The presidential office, Cheong Wae Dae, did not respond to a request for comment.

For the South Korean president, bringing the Biden administration on board with an agenda of inter-Korean reconciliation is likely to be a struggle as long as Washington and Pyongyang remain far apart on denuclearisation.

Seoul hosts almost 30,000 US troops on its soil – a legacy of the conflict between the US-backed South and Soviet-backed North – making Washington a key voice in the management of inter-Korean ties.

Although Biden has expressed openness to dialogue with the North, his administration has displayed little urgency about coaxing the isolated state back to denuclearisation talks under a “calibrated practical approach” that critics say is vaguely-defined.

Trump held two face-to-face summits with Kim in 2018 and 2019 that failed to result in concrete steps toward denuclearisation. Trump said their final meeting in Hanoi collapsed after the North demanded sanctions be “lifted in their entirety” in exchange for only partial disarmament, an account later denied by Pyongyang.

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Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Trump-era official who worked on North Korea issues said he expected the Moon administration to be lobbying hard to take charge of managing relations with Pyongyang.

“I am confident Moon’s opening pitch to the Biden administration was ‘we can handle this if you will just let us’,” the former official said.

Pyongyang has spurned repeated offers by Seoul to resume dialogue and inter-Korean cooperation, although its officials this month restored a cross-border hotline that was severed in August in protest against joint US-South Korea military exercises.

The North has also carried out numerous weapons tests in recent months, including the firing on Tuesday of a submarine-launched ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, or East Sea.

“The Biden administration’s phased, controlled North Korea policy and the Moon administration’s North Korea policy should be in harmony,” said Yang Seung-ham, a politics and diplomacy professor at Yonsei University in Seoul.

“What’s disappointing is that because of the US’s domestic problems and South Korea’s election next year, there’s no unanimity on it being a policy priority.”

Yang said Moon needed to take a more forceful line in his diplomacy with both North Korea and the US.

“It needs to use the carrot and stick with the North and convince the US of the unique character of the relationship between the Koreas,” he said.

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North and South Korea restore communication and military hotline after 2 months of silence

North and South Korea restore communication and military hotline after 2 months of silence

Tong Zhao, a senior fellow at the Carnegie‑Tsinghua Centre in Beijing, said China would be supportive of Moon’s efforts to bring about a resolution of the stalemate on the Korean peninsula.

“The current cycle of inter-Korean missile testing competition must be of concern to Beijing and the fast and open-ended strategic capability development by North Korea cannot be good news to China’s desire to maintain regional stability,” Zhao said.

“China also has a strong interest to keep South Korea close to itself, not least because Seoul is viewed as the weakest link in the US-led alliance network in the region and a cooperative relationship with Seoul would increase China’s leverage against perceived US efforts to build anti-China alliances.”

Some observers believe Moon’s last-ditch outreach efforts could include a final summit with Kim Jong-un, following three such meetings in 2018. Moon’s political mentor Roh Moo-hyun – who continued the pro-rapprochement “sunshine” policy of South Korea’s first left-leaning president Kim Dae-jung – held a summit with late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as he faced lame duck status on the domestic front during the final months of his presidency.

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After the enthusiasm that greeted Moon’s rapprochement efforts early in his tenure, any such gesture would be greeted by a South Korean public increasingly apathetic toward the North.

In an opinion survey released by the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies this month, just over 44 per cent of South Koreans said they believed reunification was necessary – the lowest figure since the launch of the poll in 2007.

Shin Kwang-yeong, a sociology professor at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, said younger South Koreans did not have memories of an undivided Korea like their parents and grandparents and increasingly viewed the prospect of reunification as “chaotic and costly”.

“They are more interested in their jobs and well-being,” Shin said.

Hong Deuk-pyo, professor emeritus at Inha University, said South Koreans widely expected Moon to push for a summit with Kim to counter his lame duck status.

“The bus has already left the station, but President Moon is morbidly obsessed with the North,” he said.

Chung Min Lee, who worked on national security issues under two conservative South Korean presidents, predicted Moon’s efforts would do little to change the North and he would go down as the last South Korean leader to put “almost all of his eggs in the ‘sunshine basket’.”

“Whoever succeeds him is going to face an onslaught of unparalleled global challenges and massive economic, financial, and technological disruptions,” Lee said.

Moon Chung-in, the former presidential adviser, suggested South Korea’s 19th president would in fact leave behind a notable legacy.

“His commitment to peace, no nukes, and South Korea’s proactive role in shaping the destiny of the Korean peninsula will be positively remembered,” he said.

“He was the leader who persuaded Chairman Kim Jong-un to verbally declare his intention for denuclearisation. He was also the South Korean president who mediated the first US-North Korea summit.

“While pursuing peacemaking efforts, he was also devoted to building formidable national defence capabilities. He had an ideal goal and vision, yet he was a realist who wanted to safeguard national interests.”