Speech

In USA

In an intense final battle to assume office in the Blue House, it was the conservative Saenuri Party‘s frontrunner Park Geun-hye who eventually claimed victory last night. With a mere 3.6 percent difference in the total poll count against Moon Jae-in, this will come as a blow for the Democratic United Party (DUP), with the likes of software tycoon and former-candidate Ahn Cheol-soo‘s systematically calling for political reform within the Democratic Party.

The 2012 presidential election will also be remembered for many years to come as having one of the highest turnouts, the first to have a winner claim with over 50 percent of the vote count, but more importantly for having elected the republic’s first female president in a predominantly male-driven society.

Park’s family background too is far from ordinary. She is the daughter of dictator Park Chung-hee who is often hailed as having brought riches to the Korean economy, but also remembered for supressing, if not purging any opposition. And Park Geun-hye is no stranger to the Blue House, having acted as First Lady in the years following her mother’s assassination.In the run-up to December 19th, the Saenuri Party were plagued with allegations of unfair behavior, and attacked live on-air but both seem to have to failed to prevent loyal conservative voters.Throughout the day of December 19th, the Korean Internet exploded with activity and divided opinions, some welcoming new changes, while others feeling Korean democracy is regressing.

Park aide’s death resonates across politics

 

  Lee Choon-sang, a long-time aide to presidential candidate Park Geun-hye, died on the campaign trail Sunday. The demise of the little-known politician seems to resonate across political spectrum amid the presidential election frenzy, creating a solemn moment of self-reflection for many politicians in the country.

  A vehicle carrying Lee and five other camp staffers hit a pole near Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, while heading for Chuncheon, a nearby city where Park was canvassing.The deceased had been by Park's side for 15 years, ever since the daughter of former President Park Chung-hee first gained her parliamentary seat representing Dalseong County in Daegu.

  For this election, he worked for her online campaign strategy that included social networking service activities.

  "I am so sorry. I have no words to offer you," a tearful Park told Lee's widowed wife at his funeral hall Sunday.Later that day, the candidate confided her feelings on Twitter, which Lee used to manage on her behalf.

"My heart breaks for him who has selflessly and devotedly helped me for the past 15 years," reads the rare tweet from Park herself. "At the funeral altar, I extend my gratitude for the past years and pray for his soul to rest in peace.

"Some seem to be particularly saddened by the fact that Lee passed away less than three weeks before the Dec. 19 election. The chances of Park becoming the president look brighter than ever, with polls giving her a slight but clear lead over opposition contender Moon Jae-in.

"Few would understand what it is like to be a secretary for someone," Lim Jae-hyun, a long-time aide to President Lee Myung-bak wrote on his Facebook account, on the death of Lee, whom he has never spoken to."We have a dream, meet someone who can turn that into reality, and devote our life to help the boss realize the dream. Some are fortunate to see that dream finally come true, but most others are not," the Cheong Wa Dae official said.

  Park canceled her official schedule for two days on Monday, as her camp observed a period of mourning, refraining from songs and dances.The Moon camp paused its offensive on the rival camp, while offering condolences to the family of the deceased.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com) ⓒKoreaHerald

Park Geun-hye announces presidential bid with jobs, welfare pledge.

 

  Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party officially announced her bid Tuesday to become South Korea's first female president, pledging to promote a fair economy, expand welfare and improve relations with North Korea.

   "I will devote my everything to make the Republic of Korea a country in which everybody can achieve their dreams," Park said at a press briefing in front of a popular shopping mall in western Seoul. It is the second bid for the daughter of late President Park Chung-hee to run for president after she narrowly lost to now President Lee Myung-bak in a 2007 party primary, who is barred from seeking reelection by law. Since then, the 60-year-old has commanded large leads over her rivals in opinion polls.   Park is widely expected to clinch the party's nomination in its primary next month.

   "Politicians have been mired in political fights and slandering without caring about matters related to people's livelihoods," Park told hundreds of supporters clad in red, the Saenuri Party's official color. "In my political career, I have kept my promises even if I suffer damage. I have fought to keep promises to the people and I will continue to do so in the future."

  Park's election pledges centered on a fair economy, jobs and expanded social welfare in a marked shift to the left, compared with her 2007 pledge that promised small government with fewer taxes and regulations.

   "Our economy has put too much emphasis on efficiency, overlooking the importance of fairness. As a result, gaps have widened and inequality worsened," Park told reporters at a press briefing. "We are confronted with the challenge of establishing a fair and transparent market principle to realize economic democratization."

   "Economic democratization" has been the centerpiece of Park's campaign platform, although party officials and camp staff differ on the scope and pace of reform measures for the nation's large conglomerates, which were fostered by her father's export-driven development strategy. 

  Park vowed to eliminate "unnecessary regulations" in order to boost the economy, while implementing tougher rules to make large firms fulfill their social responsibility to realize her goal of fairness.   She also promised to improve relations with North Korea. 

  "I will cut the vicious circle of distrust, confrontation and uncertainty to make the first step toward the new Korean Peninsula," Park said. 

  The unmarried politician has special appeal to many older people, who praise her father's charismatic leadership for achieving rapid economic development and lifting people from poverty in a generation.

   "Park Geun-hye was in the Cheong Wa Dae for five years with her father, so she knows about politics," Jung Hyun-sung, 72, said, referring to the presidential office while showing an album of late President Park Chung-hee. "She doesn't have a husband, children, so she wouldn't commit corruption for them."

  Park's supporters say they want her to be the next leader as she is well prepared to take the top office with her experience as a de-facto first lady after her mother was assassinated in 1974 when she was 22. Since then, Park stood by her father's side and played the first lady's role until the general-turned-president was killed by his spy chief in 1979.

  "She learned from politics from an early age. She doesn't lie. Most politicians reverse their words, but she doesn't," Kim Jae-kyung, 70, said. "I believe she'll be a good president. As a woman, I want to see a female president in my lifetime."

   But the disciplined, soft-spoken lawmaker is desperately seeking ways to get more support from younger, urban voters, who consider her father a dictator who ruled the country with an iron fist for 18 years, and are unhappy with the tight job market in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

   Ahead of her announcement, a group of college students staged a rally to demand Park make greater efforts to cut high tuition rates and provide more jobs to college graduates.

   "If you want to become the next president, you have to first cut the tuition by half to help college students attend school without financial problems," said Ahn Jin-kul, a college student. "You have to first take care of youths who suffer from financial burden and the tight job market."   During Tuesday's event, Park answered questions written on cards from participants and joined her supporters in singing upbeat songs in an attempt to shake off her aloof, aristocratic image.

   Although she has long been in the public sphere, her private life has been veiled, even sparking curiosity as to why she has maintained the same hairstyle for decades. 

  "We picked this venue to allow more people to communicate with Park and have fun," said Cho Yoon-sun, the spokeswoman for Park's camp. "Our campaign will put a focus on communications."

By Kim Eun-jungSEOUL, July 10 (Yonhap) -- Rep.

Park Geun Hye- South Korea"s rising political star

 
 
  At 49, Park Geun Hye is the same age her mother was when she was cut down by an assassin"s bullet at a ceremony in 1974 to mark the anniversary of liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Five years later her controversial father Park Chung Hee, who ruled South Korea for nearly two decades, was shot dead by his intelligence chief.That would be enough to keep most people out of public life. But the daughter felt duty-bound to enter politics and did so in 1998, when she won a by-election for the conservative Grand National Party in her home town of Taegu.

  Just three years later she is a potential candidate for the next presidential election in December 2002--she would be the first South Korean woman to run for the top post. Helping her is a wave of nostalgia for her father"s iron-fisted rule, as President Kim Dae Jung"s popularity dissolves. "There"s an economic crisis, and Park"s popularity is a reaction to that," explains a GNP official.Park is cleverly exploiting public disillusionment with politics-as-usual. She symbolizes a return to old certainties for those old enough to remember her father. But her gender, relative youth and newness to politics suggest to disenchanted younger voters that she is the fresh face they crave. "Many people feel we"ve gone backwards," she says. "More money is put into elections than before and you still see mud-slinging."Though coy about her political ambitions, Park is under no illusion about her growing popularity. "People like me because of my parents," she says, with a polite insistence honed over five years as acting first lady after her mother was killed by a bullet meant for her father. His policy of state-guided capitalism brought prosperity to a war-ravaged country. But it also carries a darker legacy of human-rights violations, including the 1973 kidnapping of his arch-enemy, Kim Dae Jung, from a Tokyo hotel.South Koreans are consequently split in their regard for Park Chung Hee. But there"s no doubting his daughter"s loyalty.

Her parliamentary office is adorned with memorabilia relating to her father"s rule.Park knows her pedigree could help make her South Korea"s first powerful female politician in a strongly patriarchal society. To that end she is wooing powerful politicians who made their names during her father"s time. Kim Jong Pil, a relative who helped launch the 1961 coup that allowed her father to become president in 1963, was visited in early April.She also met former President Kim Young Sam, who opposed her father"s regime. In South Korea"s intensely regional politics, Kim Jong Pil can deliver votes in South Chungchong province. And despite his failure to sidestep the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Kim Young Sam can get out the vote in South Kyongsang province. Park has a lock on votes in her home province of North Kyongsang.If she decides to run for president next year it could mean trouble for GNP leader Lee Hoi Chang, who was born in North Korea and therefore has no support-base to speak of. "The most likely scenario is that she decides to run for the GNP nomination," predicts Robert Fouser, a commentator on Korean politics at Kagoshima University in Japan. "If Lee loses the nomination, she wins the election in a landslide."But toppling Lee won"t be easy. It"s no surprise, then, that the latest rumour Park has had to deny is that she plans to create a new party with independent lawmaker Chung Mong Joon, son of recently deceased Hyundai founder Chung Ju Yung. Park"s hold over her diehard supporters would make her a handy addition to a new movement. Indeed, even if she doesn"t run, Park may well get to appoint the next president."She"ll be pivotal.

Whoever gets her support will carry one of the country"s most populous areas," explains Hahm Chai Bong, a political science professor at Yonsei University. Park believes her gender won"t be an issue: "My father had a firm sense of duty and I"ve inherited that quality." If she"s to survive the rough-and-tumble of a presidential campaign, she"ll have to demonstrate some of his famous toughness as well. 

John LarkinFar East Economic ReviewIssue cover-dated May 24, 2001

The Neighbor's Blog :)

Korea's first lady president




President Park's Career Background and Political Bid




President Park's economy policy

Park Geun-hye After The GNP

And so Assembly woman Park Geun-hye has finally bolted from the Grand National Party. Given certain issues within the party and her statements and reactions to them, her decision was more or less expected. In the press conference at which she announced her departure, she said that the GNP had the opportunity to either become a "democratic political party" or "a party with one leader," but that it had "made a unfortunate choice," essentially blaming the party for her defection. In other words, she is leaving because the GNP chose not to adopt her proposal for a "group leadership" as it approaches the presidential election.

When a politician makes certain choices about their political course of action, there will be both personal and public reasons for the decisions made. One's political goals and desires and the ability to make choices about them are something that is personal, and here it is one's motivation that is most important. It is a public issue as well because choices made bring about certain situations that require one to bear responsibility for the results. Park's personal reasons for her decision is not for anyone to debate. But everyone should be able to discuss what her departure will mean for Korean politics, and what she may have to bear responsibility for.

To begin with, that talk about a complete makeover of the political landscape could now suddenly turn into the hottest topic in town. This could mean that a presidential election that was about to be a contest between the Millennium Democratic Party and the Grand National Party could be turned into something else.

Park's departure could also turn into a test of GNP President Lee Hoi-chang's political leadership and capability. Though it is too hard to tell whether the effect will be large or small, it will be interesting to see how her breakaway affects the opposition party. One surely thinks that when she made a decision that relates so directly to her political career, she certainly must have considered the public and private concerns involved, and that she gave ample consideration as to the responsibility she will be made to bear as the results become clear.

source : The Chosun Ilbo.

Park Geun-hye Paid Off to Rejoin GNP?

Grand National Party lawmaker Park Geun-hye holds press conference Wednesday, explaining the W 200 million she received after merging the parties before the presidential elections in 2002.

  Park Geun-hye, who is being talked about as a possible successor to Choe Byung-yul as head of the Grand National Party, received W300 million from then-GNP presidential candidate Lee Hoi-chang after rejoining the party, according to a broadcast by Christian Broadcasting System (CBS). Quoting a top prosecution official, CBS said Kim Young-iel, then-GNP secretary general, confessed to giving Park W300 million.

 

  High officials with the prosecution, discussing the CBS report, said the money Park received from the GNP was less then W300 million, but also said they don't believe it to be received as a payoff for rejoining the party. Prosecutors are seriously considering summoning Park.

 

  In a telephone conversation with CBS, the Rep. Park said she twice received money from Kim Young-iel after she rejoined the GNP -- W100 million during the first half of the presidential election campaign, and another W100 million in the second half of the campaign. The money was not, however, payment for her rejoining the party, she said. She said she received the money as campaign committee joint chairwoman to cover expenses entailed campaigning for Lee Hoi-chang.

 

  Rep. Hong Sa-duk, GNP floor leader, also said he knows the money Park received was for expenses encountered as she stumped for Lee across the country, and denied that the money was a payoff for her rejoining the party. CBS also reported that prosecutors are investigating suspicions that Park received a large amount of illegal campaign contributions from a certain large business conglomerate.

 

  Park left the GNP in February 2002, calling for internal reform within the party, and formed the Korea Alliance for the Future, with herself as the head, in May of that year. Right before the presidential election, however, Park and her party rejoined the GNP. She served as the campaign committee joint chairwoman during the election.

source :  The Chosun Ilbo

National Flag of Korea

The Korean flag (태극기) is called "Taegeukgi" in Korean. Its design symbolizes the principles of the yin and yang in Oriental philosophy. The circle in the center of the Korean flag is divided into two equal parts. The upper red section represents the proactive cosmic forces of the yang. Conversely, the lower blue section represents the responsive cosmic forces of the yin. The two forces together embody the concepts of continual movement, balance and harmony that characterize the sphere of infinity. The circle is surrounded by four trigrams, one in each corner. Each trigram symbolizes one of the four universal elements: heaven (), earth (), fire (), and water ().

URL : http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/AK/AK_EN_1_4_1.jsp

 

Korea's National Flower, Sharon of Rose

Sharon of Rose(Botanical name: Hibiscus syriacus)
TThe national flower of Korea is the mugunghwa (무궁화), rose of sharon. Every year from July to October, a profusion of mugunghwa blossoms graces the entire country. Unlike most flowers, the mugunghwa is remarkably tenacious and able to withstand both blight and insects. The flower’s symbolic significance stems from the Korean word mugung, meaning immortality. This word accurately reflects the enduring nature of Korean culture, and the determination and perseverance of the Korean people.

URL : http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/AK/AK_EN_1_4_1.jsp

President Park Geun-Hye's policy towards North Korea

Park Geun-Hye meets with Kim Jung-Ii in 2002

 

 

So far, president-elect has only put forth “hopeful generalities”, but could offer new start for inter-Korean relations

By Kang Tae-ho, senior staff writer

From her statements and pledges during the election, president-elect Park Geun-hye’s plan for North Korea policy appears less antagonistic than the Lee Myung-bak administration’s approach, but not as conciliatory as that of the Roh Moo-hyun administration. As a presidential candidate, she tried to contrast her own platform with Lee’s failed policies without signing on for the engagement approach favored by Roh, and by Kim Dae-jung before him.

During the election campaign, Park said there needed to be “an evolution” in North Korea policy.

“I plan to break with this black-or-white, appeasement-or-antagonism approach and advance a more balanced North Korea policy,” she declared at the time. This would suggest her approach will fall somewhere between Roh’s and Lee’s. But it’s still unclear what Park meant by “evolution” or “balance.”

The same is true for her foreign policy approach in general. She has said she wants to deepen the comprehensive strategic alliance with the United States and take the strategic cooperative partnership with China to the next level. However, Park has not yet explained how she plans to proceed if Washington and Beijing’s interests clash, or if they conflict with her own North Korea policies. As former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Song Min-soon so aptly put it, she has offered nothing more than “hopeful generalities, missing even a way to finish the baby steps of nuclear disarmament that were stopped in their tracks four years ago.”

Back on Nov. 5, Park announced her vision for foreign relations, national security, and unification policy, an idea she called “diplomacy of trust and a new Korean Peninsula.” The measures she described emphasized an incremental approach over radical changes in inter-Korean relations.

First, she would push to have inter-Korean exchange and cooperation offices set up in Seoul and Pyongyang to promote social and cultural interchange in such areas as public health, religion, and scholarship. The idea is to build trust, with plans for ushering in an internationally supported “Vision Korea” project once North Korea makes positive steps toward denuclearization. This project would involve setting up a pan-Korean economic community, which was the second phase in the reunification plan enacted under the Kim Young-sam administration, South Korea’s second democratically elected government after Roh Tae-woo’s presidency in 1988 to 1993. Specific ideas included internationalization of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, joint exploration of underground resources, and a South Korean presence in North Korea special economic zones such as Rajin/Sonbong.

Park Jong-chul, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, described this as “an attempt to preserve continuity with the Lee Myung-bak administration’s North Korea policies, while distinguishing itself with an emphasis on policy growth and gradual improvements in our relations with Pyongyang.”

But while it avoids the rosy predictions of Lee’s “Vision 3000” plan, as well as its demand that Pyongyang end its nuclear program before any other steps are taken, it also continues to tie the state of inter-Korean relations to North Korea’s nuclear program. Park’s policy emphasizes a powerful deterrent to discourage North Korea from pursuing its nuclear program and ensures it pays a steep price for any provocations. This is, in the broader scheme of things, nearly identical to Lee’s approach. Indeed, in an open letter in question format issued on Dec. 1 by the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, North Korea’s agency for South Korea policy, Park’s calls for Pyongyang to end its nuclear program before any further steps from Seoul were described as essentially the same idea as Lee’s Vision 3000 plan.

For the moment, Pyongyang is taking a wait-and-see approach. The Choson Sinbo, published by Japan’s pro-North Korea General Association of Korean Residents, brought the open letter up again in a Dec. 21 article titled “The Question: A Second Lee Myung-bak?” which appeared to ask Park to clarify her position now that she is president-elect.

In a Jan. 2 article, the Choson Sinbo wrote, “Kim Jong-un’s New Year warning message is intended to urge Park to make a bold policy shift, as she has insisted on differentiation between her and Lee Myung-bak”.

Some positive signs were evident in statements by Ewha Womans University professor Choi Dae-seok, who voiced Park’s position on North Korea policy when he was part of her election camp and is now a member of Park’s transition team. Speaking at a debate for the 50th Kyungnam University Unification Strategy Forum in August of last year, Choi acknowledged some differences in opinion in the “progressive” and “conservative” positions on three key issues in North Korea policy, but added that most of them were narrowing. The three issues he identified were the question of whether to adhere to the terms of the June 15 and October 4 Joint Declarations between Seoul and Pyongyang, whether to prioritize inter-Korean relations or North Korea’s nuclear program, and how to proceed with the so-called “May 24 measures” taken by the South Korean government after the 2010 sinking of the ROKS Cheonan, as well as whether North Korea should apologize for the sinking.

According to Choi, the issue of the declarations was something that could be addressed in discussions with North Korea, and there was no real argument about the need to continue abiding by their terms. He also said there was no major disagreement on the nuclear issue, which both sides agreed should be resolved from a long-term perspective - tied in some ways to inter-Korean relations, but with some degree of flexibility. He also argued that Seoul needed to get away from schematic definitions of what needs to come “first” and “next” in terms of relations with North Korea and the nuclear program.

However, he drew the line at questioning the Cheonan investigation findings and demanding a reinvestigation.

“Obviously, there needs to be an apology from North Korea first,” he said. “To reject the Cheonan investigation findings and demand another investigation goes beyond distrust of the government, and it does not accord with the public’s sentiments.”

Park herself addressed the Cheonan issue while talking with journalists in August. “It was a terrible incident where many young soldiers lost their lives,” she said. “While it would be irresponsible for the government to suggest pretending it is not an issue, it’s also not good for things to continue on in this way.”

It would be premature to make predictions about how inter-Korean relations will be under the next administration based solely on the platform outlined during the campaign. The pledges represented hopeful ideas designed to win votes, not actual policies. And the course of inter-Korean relations and actual policies is unquestionably going to be determined in the context of the political interests of other countries with a stake in the peninsula, notably the US and China.

Park has pointed to the need for strong security measures, but she has also stressed the importance of dialogue. She has said that she will not demand any conditions for dialogue with Pyongyang, and that she is willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if it would help improve inter-Korean relations. The question that needs to be answered now is whether she only plans to engage in dialogue once Pyongyang has made gestures of trust, or whether she hopes to build trust through dialogue. The crux of this is the kind of message she sends to North Korea.

In “A Message of Thanks to the People,” her first press conference after winning the election, she said on Dec. 20 that North Korea’s long-range missile launched “provided a symbolic picture of how serious the security situation we face is.” However, she did not elaborate. Her more reticent approach provided a clear contrast with the approach taken on the same day five years ago by then-president-elect Lee Myung-bak, who hinted at the hard line on Pyongyang to come when he told South Korean and foreign reporters his would be “a different administration from the ones that tried to curry favor with North Korea.”

Early on, Lee attempted to distinguish his own policies from the “successes” of the preceding Roh Moo-hyun administration. But his approach ended up a failure, breeding conflict and frictions with Pyongyang with its demands for unilateral capitulation. The Lee administration found itself a passive participant in inter-Korean relations, depending on a resumption of the six-party talks on the nuclear issue to reopen dialogue. If Park and her presidential transition committee agree on the need to open up some kind of dialogue with Pyongyang - while continuing to maintain an active deterrent in the interests of national security - then they will need to distinguish their future policies from Lee’s failed ones. Specifically, they will have to use them as the starting point in a trust-building process, forcing North Korea to decide whether or not it is willing to talk.

Park’s response to North Korea’s recent successful rocket launch will be key. While it is unclear just what kind of sanctions are on the way, it has already been demonstrated that sanctions of any kind are ineffective without Beijing on board.

Indeed, a hard-line approach could give North Korea a pretext for a third nuclear test. A spokesperson for the country’s foreign ministry already warned that by showing a “hostile overreaction to our [attempted] satellite launch in April,” the United States “forced us to completely reconsider the nuclear issue.” Any trust-building process to come faces a serious obstacle from the outset.

This means some way around it will have to be found. One helpful approach may be the strategic dialogue with Washington and Beijing that Park mentioned in her platform. This means the new administration would have to position China as an active mediator, with the condition that North Korea abstain from any additional nuclear tests. Park could get things moving again with preliminary steps to resume the six-party talks by encouraging a return to and expansion on the agreement made between Pyongyang and Washington this past Feb. 29, including a halt to rocket launches. This could very well open up the possibility for a turnaround that would lead into a trust-building process on the peninsula.

 

 

 

URL : http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_northkorea/568744.html

The Korean alphabet, also known as Hangul.

Joseon Dynasty in 1443, King Sejong

  The Korean alphabet, also known as Hangul, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It was created during the Joseon Dynasty in 1443, and is now the official script of both North Korea and South Korea, and co-official in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of China's Jilin Province. In South Korea, Hangul is sometimes augmented by Chinese characters, called hanja, whereas in North Korea, hanja is virtually nonexistent.

 

  Hangul is a true alphabet of 24 consonant and vowel letters. However, instead of being written sequentially like the letters of the Latin alphabet, Hangul letters are grouped into blocks, such as 한 han, each of which transcribes a syllable. That is, although the syllable 한 han may look like a single character, it is composed of three letters: ㅎ h, ㅏ a, and ㄴ n. Each syllabic block consists of two to five letters, including at least one consonant and one vowel. These blocks are then arranged horizontally from left to right or vertically from top to bottom. The number of mathematically possible blocks is 11,172, though there are far fewer possible syllables allowed by Korean phonotactics, and not all phonotactically-possible syllables occur in actual Korean words. For a phonological description, see Korean phonology.

source : Wikipedia

Outlines of Park Geun-hye ; from entering politics to being elected president.

Outlines of Park Geun-hye ; from entering politics to being elected president.

Park Geun-hye began her political career in 1997 when the world's 12th largest economy was forced to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, as a supporter for the Grand National Party(GNP) presidential candidate Lee Hoi-chang.

-      She were able to broaden her political activity.

She won by-elections for a parliamentary seat on April 1998 despite overcome numerical inferiority. It was to save just before dissolve GNP.

entering politics ;The moment of victory

-      starting a new life as a politician.

But she resigned her a vice-president in the GNP as “the democratization of political parties” issue. (but later she rejoin the party)

She held fast to oppose the abolition of National Security Law, a struggle with the private institution law for 50days.

-  She stamped her own a tough spirit and decision on Korean citizens.

She, leader of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP), was attacked by a man during an outdoor political rally on May 20.

Park's cheek was slashed by an aggressor following a party rally.

Right after the operation, she asked presidential election situation.

-      A factor that may have tipped the scales election is voter's fury and sympathy over a knife attack against GNP chairwoman Park Geun-hye just days before the vote

Since then, she solidifying her status as one of the most powerful politician in GNP.

Park Geun-hye was expected to abandon her chairmanship soon, to make her own run for the 17th president of Korea. But GNP choose Lee Myung-bak.

Ater then she went on the stump.

-      Lee Myung-bak was elected the 17th president of Korea.

Controversy over Sejong City project has caused the Lee Myung-bak administration to review the plan. But She held firm to the original plan. The result was rejected.

-      These events, she received positive reviews for policician following the rules, trust and principle.

The global financial crisis left many South Koreans unemployed and the Grand National Party very unpopular. Besides Park Hee-tae, the Chairman of the National Assembly, bribe member of party with a bag of money during GNP convention season. To top it off, DDoS attack was happened.

In a crisis, Grand National Party asked Park Geun-hye for help.

-      She has outstanding ability to deal with problems in a crisis.

She changed everything, including the party’s name from ‘Grand National Party’ to ‘Saenuri’.

signboard hanging ceremony 

As a result, Seanuri party won an absolute majority.( 19^th general election)

-      No one expected this result.

However, the task was not smooth. Her political life was swept in her father, former President Park Chung-hee’s past. (the military coup in 16 May 1961, the ‘Yushin’ constitution and Inhyeokdang incident)

She apologized for father's past faults.

On  December 19, 2012, Park Geun-hye became the 18th first female president of Korea.

The sign has her inauguration slogan, 

“Will Open the New Era of Hope.”

By Shin eun-jung.

About 'Park, Chung-Hee', Father of Presient 'Park, Geun-Hye' and former president of Korea.

Links

About.com http://asianhistory.about.com/od/southkorea/p/Park-Chung-Hee-Biography.htm

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Chung-hee

NewWorldEncyclopedia http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Park_Chung-hee

Gogilesgo http://www.gogilesgo.com/biographies/park.htm

URLS

Websites listed introducing President Park, Geun-Hye


English Websites

Wikepedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Geun-hye
Biography.com http://www.biography.com/people/park-geun-hye-21145475
Korea.net http://www.korea.net/Government/Administration/President-Park-Geun-hye


Korean Websites

Naver http://people.search.naver.com/search.naver?sm=tab_txc&where=people_profile&ie=utf8&query=%EB%B0%95%EA%B7%BC%ED%98%9C&os=159889
Naverblog http://blog.president.go.kr/


SNS

Twitter https://twitter.com/GH_PARK
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ghpark.korea
Flicker http://www.flickr.com/photos/withghpark

Former Presidents Of R.O.K.

PROFILE

   Education and Honorary Degrees

1970

Graduated from Sacred Heart Girls' High School, Seoul, Korea

1974

BS in Electronic Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea

1987

Honorary Doctorate in Literature, Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan

2008

Honorary Doctorate in Science, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Korea

2008

Honorary Doctorate in Politics, Pukyong National University, Busan, Korea

2010

Honorary Doctorate in Politics, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea

   Career          

1974-1979

Acting First Lady

1974-to date

Director of the Yukyoung Foundation

1994-to date

Member of the Korean Writers' Association

1998-2000

Lawmaker in the 15th National Assembly

Member of the Commerce, Industry and Energy Committee

Member of the Special Committee on Women's Affairs

1998-2002

Vice-chairperson of the Grand National Party

2000-2004

Lawmaker in the 16th National Assembly

Member of the Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee

Member of the Gender Equality and FamilyAffairs Committee

Member of the Science, Technology,

Information and Telecommunication Committee

2002, May-Nov.

Party President of the Korea Coalition for the Future

2003

Chairperson of the Grand National Party's Presidential Election Committee

Member of the Standing Steering Committee of the Grand National Party

2004-2008

Lawmaker in the 17th National Assembly

Member of the National Defense Committee

Member of the Government Administration and Local Autonomy Committee

Member of the Environment and Labor Committee

2004, March-2006

Chairperson of the Grand National Party

2007

Candidate in Grand National Party presidential

primary for the 17th Presidential Election

2008-2012

Lawmaker in the 18th National Assembly

Member of the Health, Welfare and Family Affairs Committee

Member of the Strategy and Finance Committee

2011, Dec.-May 2012

Chairperson of the Emergency Committee of the Saenuri Party

2012, May-Dec.

Lawmaker in the 19th National Assembly

2012, Aug.-Dec.

Presidential candidate of the Saenuri Party in the 18th Presidential Election

2012, Dec.-to date

President-elect for the 18th presidential term 

LINK

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT




KOREA.net(Gateway to Korea)




Cultural Heritage Administration



Korean National Heritage Online