Park Geun-hye

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Park Geun-hye (päk gŏŏn-hĕ), 1952–, South Korean political leader, president of South Korea (2013–). The daughter of South Korean dictator Park Chung Hee, she served as his acting first lady from after her mother's assassination (1974) until he was assassinated (1979). She was first elected to the National Assembly in 1998, and was reelected four times. She also was the leader of the conservative Grand National party, later the New Frontier party (NFP; 2004–6, 2011–12). In 2002 she visited Kim Jong Il in North Korea in an attempt to improve relations between the two Koreas. In Dec., 2012, she won the presidential election to become South Korea's first woman president.