The May 9 South Korean elections were the least interesting in my professional memory, which stretches back to the late 1980s. They lacked suspense: the victory of Moon Jae-in, the candidate of the left-leaning nationalists (they prefer to style themselves ‘progressives’), was a certainty long before any ballots were cast.

But what the campaign lacked, his five-year term in office is likely going to make up for, as we are going to see a great deal of crisis, conflicts, and intrigue – to a large extent, directly or indirectly, related to North Korea.