Park Geun-hye biography

Synopsis

Younger Years

Park Geun-hye, South Korea's first female president, was born on February 2, 1952, in Daegu, in the North Gyeongsang Province of South Korea. She is the daughter of former South Korean President Park Chung-hee, who served from 1961 until his death by assassination 1979, and former first lady Yuk Young-soo, who was shot and killed in the throes of a 1974 assassination attempt on her husband.

Chung-hee began his 18-year reign when Park was 11 years old. His presidency divided South Korea and later became a controversial part of his daughter's campaign to become elected president herself. Critics called him a dictator who carried out human rights abuses and delayed the onset of democracy in South Korea; supporters claimed that he transformed the economy and helped the country recover following the Korean War.

Thrust into Politics

Following her high school graduation, Park Geun-hye enrolled at the University of Seaugang in Seoul, South Korea, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering in 1974. That same year, she suffered a tremendous tragedy: Her mother was shot and killed by North Korean assassin Mun Segwang, whose bullet was intended for the president. Citizens deeply mourned the death of Yuk Young-soo, who remains widely regarded as the country's most popular and beloved first lady.

Amidst her personal grief, Park was instated as the nation's acting first lady—a title requiring newfound responsibility for recent college graduate, who was then just 22 years old. But Park acclimated well to the political world: Early into her role as first lady, she gracefully and efficiently greeted dignitaries and conducted affairs of state, among a number of other responsibilities.

Five years after her mother's murder, tragedy struck again: Park's father, President Park Chung-hee, was assassinated at a dinner by his own intelligence chief, Kim Jae-kyu, on October 26, 1979.

Member of the National Assembly

Following her service as first lady, Park continued to flourish in the South Korean political world, becoming appointed vice chairperson of the Grand National Party in 1998. (The GNP had been established one year earlier, unifying the financially struggling New Korea Party and the Democratic Party.) Also in 1998, she began serving as a member of the National Assembly.