Park Geun-hye is South Korea's first female president

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:48

South Korea. A woman won the next presidential election. In this position, the elected Park Geun-hye replaced Lee Myung-bak. His presidential term expired in February 2013. More than 51% of voters who came to the polls voted for her. The overall turnout across the country was over 75%.

Continuity of power

The name of the President of South Korea has been known to the people of the country since the reign of Park Chung-hee. Although he gave impetus to the development of the South Korean economy, he was known as a dictator. He led the country until 1979 and died during the assassination attempt. He was shot by the head of security.

There have been attempts to overthrow the dictator before. Five years earlier, Park Chung-hee's wife was mortally wounded in the theater during a failed assassination attempt on Park Chung-hee. The president never remarried. After the death of her mother, the daughter unofficially became the first lady of the country. Park Geun-hye was 22 at the time.

Almost 40 years after these events, she, as the future president of South Korea, apologized for the crimes of her father and his regime. Geun Hye asked for forgiveness from the families and friends of the victims affected bythese illegal actions, and stated that no country's successes justify dictatorial terror and political repression.

President of South Korea: biography

Park Geun-hye (1952-02-02) was the first child in the family. Born in Daegu. She has a brother, Ji Mann, and a sister, Se Yeon. Geun-hye graduated from high school in Seoul in 1970. In the same place, she received her bachelor's degree after graduating from Sogan University in 1974. Her speci alty was electrical engineering. Geun-hye studied Christianity in 1981 at the Theological Seminary and Presbyterian College. After that, she decided to go into politics.

Kun Hye didn't drop out of school. She has three more academic degrees to her credit: in 1987 (University of Chinese Culture), in 2008 (Scientific and Technical Institute), in 2010 (Sogang University). The President of South Korea has never been married and has no illegitimate children.

Political activities

Kun Hye first became a member of the National Assembly in 1998. She was elected in one of the districts of her hometown of Daegu. Subsequently, three more times (until 2012) she was delegated to the National Assembly.

From 2004 to 2006 she was the leader of the Great Country Party. This period became successful for her political force. Many analysts linked the numerous victories of PVS deputies in elections at various levels with her name. In unofficial circles, Geun-hye was called the "Election Queen", but despite this, in 2007 she lost to Lee at the internal party congress. Myung-Bak (President of South Korea 2008 - 2012).

PVS popularity rating fell in 2011. The party was renamed Senuri, with Geun-hye appointed as its de facto leader. The renewed political force won the 2012 parliamentary race and won the majority in the National Assembly.

This success made it possible for Geun-hye to run for president from Sanuri by a large margin (83% of support) and win the national elections just as confidently. Residents of the country supported her candidacy (51%), deciding to entrust the post of head of state.

Realities in South Korea

Entering the presidential race, Park Geun-hye understood what challenges the new president would face. The fact is that during the global crisis, the pace of economic development also slowed down in South Korea. Over the past 5 years, the growth rate has fallen below 3% per year. The entire business community, which supported the woman's candidacy for the responsible post of head of state during the difficult period, urged her to devote all her strength to revitalizing the economy.

The first thing Geun-hye faced when she became the leader of the country was the opposition. Its basis, the Democratic United Party, did not want to understand the president's desire to redistribute the functions of the cabinet of ministers and was not ready to change the government. The new president also did not have support among the old team that remained from the apparatus of Lee Myung-bak. The vertical still had to be built. At the same time, everyone understood that for effective work, the coherence of the work of the ministries and the team is needed.president. It was not clear when it would be possible to start reforms to create a "creative economy".

Another reality - after the elections, Pyongyang (DPRK) again recalled its nuclear status and warned Seoul (South Korea). The President should try to find a way to approach the young leader of North Korea and improve relations between the two neighboring countries.