Moon Jae-in meets with leaders of major political parties

Continuing our coverage of Moon Jae-in's maiden day as South Korean president. Another item on his to-do list was meeting face-to-face with the leaders of all of Korea's major political parties. For more on what the gesture could mean going forward,... Shin Se-min reports. The President's first stop in Yeouido, the seat of Korean politics,... was the headquarters of the Liberty Korea Party -- in power until election day but, overnight, turned into parliament's main opposition bloc. One-by-one, president Moon met with the leadership of the major parties, in order of the number of seats they hold in the National Assembly. A move,... seen as an effort to embrace all sides of the political spectrum from day one. And the responses coming from the parties the day after their defeat -- calm,... and accepting of the outcome. All of them congratulated the new president on his victory,... with some party leaders asking the president to make sure to embrace the people and communicate with them. Some, even offering to help the President execute his duties as the commander-in-chief. President Moon responded warmly to his former campaign competitors,... thanking them for their hard work. But there are major tasks ahead, and friendly chats can only get them so far. For President Moon,… cooperation among the parties will be all the more crucial,… since his Democratic Party of Korea holds fewer than 120 seats in parliament, far from a majority in the 300-seat assembly. And with some major contentious issues coming up,... like the preparation of a potential supplementary budget and the budget proposal for next year,... the President will have to avoid legislative discord at all costs. So all eyes are on his every move,... because the cooperation he's called for could mean a comprehensive political realignment. "Moon's first actions as president... were meant to reflect his ultimate goal of bringing the nation together in harmony. The looming question, however, is whether... and when.... he will be able to get all five major political parties on the same page. Shin Se-min, Arirang News."