By Chico Harlan, Washington Post, Dec 19, 2012

SEOUL — Park Geun-hye spent part of her childhood in South Korea’s presidential palace, raised by an authoritarian father who seized power in a military coup 51 years ago. She returns now as the democratically elected president of a nation concerned about its slowing economy and mounting social problems.

With her narrow victory in Wednesday’s election, Park, 60, becomes an unlikely leader: She’s the first female president in a nation dominated by men, and she’s a conservative selected by voters to address their largely left-leaning wishes, including greater engagement with North Korea and a major expansion of government welfare spending [....]

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Park Geun-hye elected South Korea's 1st female president, is open to North Korea detente
By Hyung-Jin Kim And Foster Klug, Associated Press, Dec. 19, 2012

SEOUL, South Korea - Park Geun-hye, daughter of a divisive military strongman from South Korea's authoritarian era, has been elected the country's first female president, a landmark win that could mean a new drive to start talks with rival North Korea.

After five years of high tension under unpopular incumbent Lee Myung-bak (Lee Myuhng Bahk), Park has vowed to pursue engagement and step up aid to North Korea, despite the latter's widely condemned long-range rocket launch last week [....]