Sixty-year-old Park Geun-hye won South Korea’s presidential election after her opponent conceded the race. The conservative politician spent 15 years in politics as a leading legislator in the ruling Saenuri Party. Though she is unmarried and has no children, she served as South Korea’s first lady during her father’s presidency, after her mother was assassinated. Park’s father, Park Chung-hee, was president of South Korea for 18 years and helped transform the country after the Korean War, though his opponents called him a “dictator.” Park will begin her five-year term in February.
