Oblicza prezydentury Park Geun hye – meandry polityki południowokoreańskiej
Faces of Park Geun hye’s presidency – intricacies of the South Korean politics

Author(s): Grażyna Strnad
Subject(s): Cultural history, Studies of Literature, Other Language Literature, Philology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: South Korea; Park Geun-hye; Politics; Political Parties
Summary/Abstract: In December of 2012. Park Geun-hye won the presidential election and became the first South Korean woman to ascend to the highest office in the country. Park stated “We can all become partners in the creation of a second miracle on the Han River” and usher in “a new era of hope. ” Park was the overwhelming favorite among potential candidates of the Saenuri Party. However, her candidacy was accompanied by controversy. Park Geun-hye is the oldest daughter of former South Korean President Park Chung Hee, who ruled South Korea in the years 1961–1979. There was widespread sympathy for Park among South Koreans as she had lost her parents at a young age; her mother in 1974 and her father in 1979. In November of 1979, while mourning of the death of her father, Park Geun-hye withdrew from both public and political life for many years. She returned to politics and was repeatedly elected in parliamentary elections (1988, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012). In 2004–2006, she was Chairperson of the Grand National Party. In 2012, she was the presidential candidate of Saenuri Party and was elected president in December 2012. In 2016, a political scandal engulfed the Park Geun-hye administration and culminated in a National Assembly vote for her impeachment on December 9, 2016. In March 2017, the South Korean Constitutional Court upheld the decision on the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, who became the fi rst president of the Republic of Korea to be removed from office. Then the court issued an arrest warrant for the former president, who lost the confidence of many South Korean citizens because of her violation of the law.

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