South Korea Gets First Female President, Park Geun-Hye

Park Geun-hye the daughter of the late dictator Park Chung-hee, has become South Korea’s first female president. Park, the 60-year-old leader of the conservative Saenuri Party, defeated 59-year-old liberal challenger Moon Jae-in — once jailed for opposing her father’s rule — by a margin of about 3.5%.  on Wednesday.

“Park Geun-hye has made history. The keen contest that saw an unprecedented voter turnout of 75.8% can do any democracy proud,” Vishnu Prakash, Indian ambassador to South Korea, said after exit polls when a majority of the votes had been counted.

Following her electoral victyory, she will now move back to the presidential residence where she lived as a child and served as de facto First Lady after her mother’s death.