December 19, 2012
<h1>South Korea Elects First Female President</h1><img src="http://www.voanews.com/App_Themes/VOA_en-US/img/colorLogo.gif"/>Conservative Saenuri [New Frontier] Party candidate Park Geun-hye has made history by winning South Korea's presidential election, becoming the country's first female president-elect after defeating liberal rival Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party by several percentage points.<br /> <br /> Interacting briefly with several media representatives on a large open-air stage in downtown Seoul, the five-term lawmaker and daughter of a former dictator vowed to fulfill every promise she made during the campaign.<br /> <br /> By keeping everyone's support and trust in mind, Park said she "will definitely open an era of peoples' happiness in which everyone can enjoy some simple pleasures and their dreams can come true."<br /> <br /> <div id='embeddedBG_1567828' class='embeddedBackgrounder floatLeft'><div class='embeddedBackgrounderInner'><strong>Park Geun-hye</strong><br /> <br /> <ul class="bullet_orange"> <li> Daughter of late South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee</li> <li> Member of President Lee Myung-bak's ruling conservative New Frontier Party</li> <li> Would be first female president in South Korea's history</li> <li> Holds slight lead in latest opinion polls</li> <li> 60 years old</li> </ul></div></div> After being handed a bouquet of flowers, Park left the stage to the cheers of her supporters. She gave no formal victory speech.<br /> <br /> At a subdued Democratic United Party headquarters in another part of the capital, Moon Jae-in conceded. Apologizing to supporters, he called the defeat his failure, "not a failure of the people who hoped for new politics," and then offered his congratulations to the new president-elect.<br /> <br /> Turnout 76 percent voter turnout was considered high, surpassing the two previous presidential elections despite sub-freezing temperatures across the country.<br /> <br /> Voters, bundled in their thickest winter clothing and stomping their feet to stay warm, waited in long lines to get into polling stations.<br /> <small><strong>Story continues below photo gallery</strong></small><br /> <div> <div class="htmlPhg"> <ul class="htmlPhgList"> <li class="htmlPhgListItem"><img class="htmlPhgImage" data-src="http://gdb.voanews.com/B2541862-29F7-455D-9327-0A9B557D9821_mwdynamic_mhdynamic_s.jpg" src="/img/spacer.gif" alt="" /><div class="htmlPhgCaption"> <div class="htmlPhgCaptionInner"> South Korea's president-elect Park Geun-hye, center, poses with an official certificate stating her election victory, Seoul, December 20, 2012. </div> </div></li><li class="htmlPhgListItem"><img class="htmlPhgImage" data-src="http://gdb.voanews.com/5E686375-D9E6-4AE3-82FC-A989AD816AB4_mwdynamic_mhdynamic_s.jpg" src="/img/spacer.gif" alt="" /><div class="htmlPhgCaption"> <div class="htmlPhgCaptionInner"> South Korea's president-elect Park Geun-hye bows in front of the grave of her father Park Chung-hee, the country's former dictator, at the National Cemetery in Seoul, December 20, 2012. </div> </div></li><li class="htmlPhgListItem"><img class="htmlPhgImage" data-src="http://gdb.voanews.com/C34A1518-1EA8-4F2A-B5C2-419407E3E150_mwdynamic_mhdynamic_s.jpg" src="/img/spacer.gif" alt="" /><div class="htmlPhgCaption"> <div class="htmlPhgCaptionInner"> Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party waves to her supporters near the party's head office in Seoul, December 19, 2012. </div> </div></li><li class="htmlPhgListItem"><img class="htmlPhgImage" data-src="http://gdb.voanews.com/14620179-C78A-4271-BD81-2990D36B1DC2_mwdynamic_mhdynamic_s.jpg" src="/img/spacer.gif" alt="" /><div class="htmlPhgCaption"> <div class="htmlPhgCaptionInner"> Supporters of Park Geun-hye cheer near her Saenuri Party's head office in Seoul, December 19, 2012. </div> </div></li><li class="htmlPhgListItem"><img class="htmlPhgImage" data-src="http://gdb.voanews.com/F8E7853D-3AC2-43C4-AB34-C28DB929CB9B_mwdynamic_mhdynamic_s.jpg" src="/img/spacer.gif" alt="" /><div class="htmlPhgCaption"> <div class="htmlPhgCaptionInner"> South Korean opposition Democratic United Party's presidential candidate Moon Jae-in, second from left, shakes hands with supporters after he cast his ballot in the presidential election in Seoul, December 19, 2012. </div> </div></li><li class="htmlPhgListItem"><img class="htmlPhgImage" data-src="http://gdb.voanews.com/319983CB-B030-42B2-B2BA-A70703071062_mwdynamic_mhdynamic_s.jpg" src="/img/spacer.gif" alt="" /><div class="htmlPhgCaption"> <div class="htmlPhgCaptionInner"> Members of opposition Democratic United Party watch TV news reporting exit polls on their presidential candidate Moon Jae-in in South Korea's presidential elections, Seoul, December 19, 2012. </div> </div></li><li class="htmlPhgListItem"><img class="htmlPhgImage" data-src="http://gdb.voanews.com/E6E8DC88-FF43-4208-BCE2-C672B5FD03F9_mwdynamic_mhdynamic_s.jpg" src="/img/spacer.gif" alt="" /><div class="htmlPhgCaption"> <div class="htmlPhgCaptionInner"> A South Korean woman with her son, tries to come out from a booth at a polling station in Seoul, December 19, 2012. </div> </div></li><li class="htmlPhgListItem"><img class="htmlPhgImage" data-src="http://gdb.voanews.com/7786DA53-B491-42EA-9872-6CC56C3644F7_mwdynamic_mhdynamic_s.jpg" src="/img/spacer.gif" alt="" /><div class="htmlPhgCaption"> <div class="htmlPhgCaptionInner"> South Korean National Election Commission officials sort out ballots cast in the presidential election as they begin the counting process in Seoul, December 19, 2012. </div> </div></li> </ul> <div class="htmlPhgFilmstrip"> <a href="javascript:void(0)" class="htmlPhgBtn htmlPhgFilmstripBackward">◀</a> <div class="htmlPhgFilmstripContainer"></div> <a href="javascript:void(0)" class="htmlPhgBtn htmlPhgFilmstripForward">▶</a> </div> <div class="htmlPhgControlPanel"> <div class="htmlPhgControlsLeft"> <span class="htmlPhgControlsSlide"> <a href="javascript:void(0)" class="htmlPhgBtn htmlPhgPrev">⏪</a> <a href="javascript:void(0)" class="htmlPhgBtn htmlPhgPlay">▶</a> <a href="javascript:void(0)" class="htmlPhgBtn htmlPhgPause">||</a> <a href="javascript:void(0)" class="htmlPhgBtn htmlPhgNext">⏩</a> </span> <span class="htmlPhgCount">1/8</span> </div> <div class="htmlPhgControlsRight"> <a href="javascript:void(0)" class="htmlPhgBtn htmlPhgMore">...</a> <a target="_self" href="javascript:void(0)" class="htmlPhgBtn htmlPhgFullscreenBtn">⇱</a> <a 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</script></div> <br /> After the results were known, a jubilant Park supporter, 56-year-old company employee Choi Duk-soon, said she is elated by the historic victory.<br /> <br /> Choi says she is "thrilled to have the country's first female president who can heal conflicts due to regional and class differences."<br /> <br /> The incumbent, President Lee Myung-bak of the Saenuri Party, was limited to a single five-year term. He was elected in 2007, narrowly defeating Park in a party primary race.<br /> <br /> For Park, who is 60 and is scheduled to take office February 25, it will actually be the second time residing in the presidential Blue House. She lived there in the 1970's, serving as the country's acting first lady after her mother was assassinated by a North Korea-backed gunman.<br /> <br /> The ever-present threat from Pyonyang will be only one of the daunting challenges she faces; Park is faced with widening income disparity amid a slowing economy, soaring welfare costs for an aging, and a rekindling territorial dispute with Japan.<br /> <br /> During the campaign, Moon, who served as chief of staff to former president Roh Moo-hyun, said he would want to hold a summit meeting with North Korea in the first year of his presidency. Park declared no such meeting could take place unless Pyongyang apologizes for military provocation it has launched in recent years.<br /> <br /> Park's father led a 1961 coup and stayed in power until he was assassinated in 1979 by the chief of his intelligence agency.<br /> <br /> Park’s campaign said the first item on her schedule the morning after the election would be to pay her respects at the national cemetery where her parents are buried.<br /> <br /> <small><em>Youmi Kim in VOA's Seoul bureau contributed to this report.</em></small><link rel="canonical" href="http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-media-project-park-as-next-president/1567778.html"/><meta name="syndication-source" content="http://www.voanews.com/content/south-korea-media-project-park-as-next-president/1567778.html"/><img src="http://livetracker.voanews.eu/counter.lt?PageType=256&RecordId=1567778&SiteId=415&r=291349699&it=0&pd=20121219122438&url=ArticleID1567778" alt="" style="border:none;" height="1" width="1">
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