Meet the First Female President of South Korea - Park Geun-Hye

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The 61 year old Park Geun-Hye of the conservative Saenuri party became South Korea’s first woman president today (Monday, 25th February 2013) vowing to secure the nation against the threat of an increasingly hostile North Korea, while simultaneously signaling a new drive for greater engagement with Pyongyang.

She is the daughter of late military strongman Park Chung-Hee. Taking the oath, Ms Park called on the regime in Pyongyang to "abandon its nuclear ambitions without delay" and rejoin the international community. 

"North Korea's recent nuclear test is a challenge to the survival and future of the Korean people, and there should be no mistake that the biggest victim will be none other than North Korea itself," she said. "I will not tolerate any action that threatens the lives of our people and the security of our nation," Ms Park said, while promising to pursue the trust-building policy with Pyongyang that she had promised in her campaign. "I will move forward step by step on the basis of credible deterrence," she added.