From Kim-Trump summits to missile tests: The failures of South Korea's President Moon

SEOUL: Peace with North Korea and a "fair and just" society in the South - outgoing President Moon Jae-in made big promises, but after five years in power, he has failed to deliver, analysts say.

Talks between Washington and Pyongyang that Moon brokered have collapsed, North Korea is test-firing long-range missiles again, and leader Kim Jong Un last week said he was strengthening his nuclear arsenal "at the fastest possible speed".

Domestically, Moon's key housing policy backfired, landmark anti-discrimination legislation never materialised, and top luminaries in his government and party became ensnared in sex and bribery scandals.

Public frustration with his administration is what galvanised a political opposition in disarray, analysts say - Moon will hand power on May 10 to Yoon Suk-yeol, whose conservatives he ousted from government five years ago.

"Moon's biggest legacy will be the election of Yoon as president," Gi-Wook Shin, a sociology professor at Stanford University, told AFP.

An avowed anti-feminist and right-wing security hawk, Yoon is the antithesis of Moon, and his threats of a pre-emptive strike on North Korea have already undone much of Moon's cherished attempts at inter-Korean rapprochement.

Moon's diplomacy has come to nought anyway, with Kim recently issuing a veiled threat to use his nukes more expansively, Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute told AFP.

His decision to send "warm greetings" in a farewell letter to Kim last month showed "questionable" judgment in light of the fact Pyongyang is preparing for a nuclear test, Cheong said.