Park Geun hye who was sworn into office of President of South Korea on Moday has a tough task at hand. She faces more fissures within the country and also with North Korea much more than her father did who was assassinated 33 years ago.
Park is the first female President of South Korea, a unique first for the country whose corporate boardrooms and cabinets have been mostly male dominated until date. Her address was bit sublime in the sense that she urged North Korea to end its nuclear pursuit. She also called for revival of economic boom in South Korea and highlighted it as the main component of restoring trust in the widening gap amongst the rich and the poor in the country.
The ceremony was held in front of the National Assembly and her motorcade made way through the downtown Seoul soon after the ceremony. The task has been cut out for Park Geun hye and the President faces a tough challenge in the way that the young and liberal South Koreans are quite vocal in their protests and have no fear in speaking out their minds.
Her political rivals have also grown active in the past few days with a Christian pastor being arrested last week. The controversial pastor claimed that Park Geun hye has been involved in a physical relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong –il. This he claims happened on her visit to Pyongyang in 2002. These videotaped allegations have been making rounds on the internet and has caused unnecessary trouble to the newly elected President.
Meanwhile, about two weeks before the swearing in of Park Geun hye as the President, North Korea tested an underground nuclear device. The after effects of the NorthKorean nuclear test reflected in Park Geun hye’s inauguration speech. She voiced her opinions in a vocal manner when she expressed fears that the recent nuclear attacks have been a challenge for survival of Korean people at large. She cautioned North Korea that the country itself would be the victim of terror, in case it pursued its nuclear policy further.
Addressing an impressive gathering at the swearing in ceremony, the new President urged the North Korean administration to give up its nuclear pursuit and instead focus on building up relations with neighboring countries and end its self-imposed exile.
She reminded the gathering of her father’s legacy, which had helped transform the once sleepy town of Seoul to a booming industrialized economic hub that has been providing, jobs to millions of people in the country.
His nurtured companies particularly Samsung and Hyundai, which were once family held small businesses, have transformed themselves into leading companies of the world. Her mention of this fact was a sublime reminder to North Korea that it need to move beyond its autocratic past and give way to economic boom thus ushering an era of peace and prosperity that will eventually bring peace and stability in the region. Korea has been on the brink of war with North Korea showing aggressive stance every now and then. It is expected that the new President will help stabilize the South Korean economy and make its Nothern neighbor realize that things will get better only if it pursues a peaceful approach.
