South Korea’s First Female President Takes Office

South Korea’s first female president, Park Geun-hye, has taken the oath of office. After taking her oath, Park returned to the same presidential mansion where she grew up with her dictator father.

Park is already facing challenges in her first day as president with the North threatening destruction and a growing gap between the country’s rich and poor.

There is also pressure for the country’s first female president to live up to her campaign promises by returning South Korea to the good economic growth it saw under her father, reports The Boston Globe.

Park’s last stay in the Blue House was marked by tragedy. Her mom was killed when Park was 22 during a botched assassination attempt aimed at her father, President Park Chung-hee.

The president was shot and killed just five years later by his spy chief during a drinking game. Park will quickly face a decision regarding North Korea that will be closely watched by Pyongyang, Washington, D.C., Beijing, and Tokyo.

CBS News notes that North Korea has warned against “second and third measures of greater intensity” that comes as the UN considers tightening sanctions against the North.

Park’s predecessor took a hard stance against North Korea, but it is possible South Korea’s first woman president will pursue a plan of reconciliation and engagement with the North.

The softer policy would be aimed at easing five years of animosity between the two nations. Park’s policy has called for strong defense against North Korea, but it has also asked for efforts to build trust with the North through aid shipments, reconciliation efforts, and resumption of large-scale economic initiatives.

Park is also hoping for a possible summit with North Korea’s new leader, Kim Jong Un. While it is unlikely, considering the North’s animosity with its southern neighbor, many in the world are hoping that South Korea’s first woman president will be able to unite the two nations.

[Image by ??????? ??????? ???????????? ??? ??????? from Greece [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons]