Week 2

Park Geun-hye becomes South Korea's first female president

CNN
By CNN Staff
February 26, 2013
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/24/world/asia/south-korea-female-president/index.html?iref=allsearch

Summary:

On Monday, Park Geun-hye became South Korea's first female president, pledging to secure South Korea against the threat of an increasingly hostile North Korea at the same time as improving relationships with Pyongyang. In her address, she called for the revival of an economic boom her father, Park Chung-hee, had once overseen and urged North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Opinion:

Park Geun-hye made history Monday by becoming South Korea's first female president. Two weeks before her inauguration, North Korea detonated an underground nuclear device, testing her campaign promise to reach out to the North to help end five years of diplomatic silence and high tension on the divided Korean Peninsula under her predecessor, Lee Myung-Bak. North Korea's recent nuclear test is a challenge for her to the survival and future of the Korean people. Ms. Park should manage this serious issue in order to improve the relationship between North and South. Furthermore, the relationship between the United States and South Korea will be important in the economy. I anticipate she will usher in a new era of hope whereby the happiness of each citizen becomes the bedrock of our nation's strength which in turn is shared by and benefits all Koreans.