Three years ago, South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited then-U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, jubilant from having signed the Panmunjom Declaration with his North Korean counterpart only weeks before. Yet while many expected a Sunshine Policy 2.0, not least in terms of inter-Korean economic cooperation, Moon could not convince the 45th U.S. president to ease sanctions on Pyongyang.

Three years later, Moon’s economic dream has still not materialized. His agenda has suffered setbacks, not least owing to domestic issues, as South Korea grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, coupled with the overwhelming defeat of the