First female South Korean president takes office
By FOSTER KLUG and HYUNG-JIN KIM?
?By FOSTER KLUG and HYUNG-JIN KIMIn this Feb. 22, 2013 photo, South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye, left, listens to Deputy commander, Republic of Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command Gen. Kwon Oh-sung during her visit at the Combined Forces Command in Seoul, South Korea. Even before she takes office Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, as South Korea's first female president, Park's campaign vow to soften Seoul's current hard-line approach to rival North Korea is being tested by Pyongyang's recent underground nuclear detonation. Pyongyang, Washington, Beijing and Tokyo are all watching to see if Park, the daughter of a staunchly anti-communist dictator, pursues an ambitious engagement policy meant to ease five years of animosity on the divided peninsula or if she sticks with the tough stance of her fellow conservative predecessor, Lee Myung-bak. (AP Photo/Yonhap) KOREA OUT
In this Feb. 22, 2013 photo, South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye, left, listens to Deputy commander, Republic of Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command Gen. Kwon Oh-sung during her visit at the Combined Forces Command in Seoul, South Korea. Even before she takes office Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, as South Korea's first female president, Park's campaign vow to soften Seoul's current hard-line approach to rival North Korea is being tested by Pyongyang's recent underground nuclear detonation. Pyongyang, Washington, Beijing and Tokyo are all watching to see if Park, the daughter of a staunchly anti-communist dictator, pursues an ambitious engagement policy meant to ease five years of animosity on the divided peninsula or if she sticks with the tough stance of her fellow conservative predecessor, Lee Myung-bak. (AP Photo/Yonhap) KOREA OUT
FILE - In this Feb. 12 2013 file photo, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, right, talks with President-elect Park Geun-hye during their meeting about North Korea's nuclear test at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea. Even before she takes office Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, as South Korea's first female president, Park's campaign vow to soften Seoul's current hard-line approach to rival North Korea is being tested by Pyongyang's recent underground nuclear detonation. Pyongyang, Washington, Beijing and Tokyo are all watching to see if Park, the daughter of a staunchly anti-communist dictator, pursues an ambitious engagement policy meant to ease five years of animosity on the divided peninsula or if she sticks with the tough stance of her fellow conservative predecessor, Lee Myung-bak. (AP Photo/Yonhap, Do Kwang-hwan) KOREA OUT
South Korea's outgoing President Lee Myung-bak, left, and his wife Kim Yoon-ok, right, make heart shape with arms before leaving the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Park Geun-hye will take office Monday, Feb. 25 as South Korea's first female president. (AP Photo/Yonhap, Do Kwang-hwan) KOREA OUT
South Korean honor guards hold flags during a rehearsal of the 18th presidential inauguration ceremony inside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye's inauguration will be held on Feb. 25. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A South Korean soldier, wearing a traditional uniform, walks through a sea of chairs arranged at the National Assembly during a rehearsal on the eve of President-elect Park Geun-hye's inauguration in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? Park Geun-hye has become South Korea's first female president and returned to the presidential mansion where she grew up with her dictator father.
As president, Park will face stark divisions both in South Korean society and with rival North Korea, which detonated an underground nuclear device about two weeks ago. South Koreans worry about a growing gap between rich and poor, and there's pressure for her to live up to her campaign suggestion that she can return the country to the strong economic growth her strong-man father oversaw.
Park technically took over as the clock struck midnight. Her swearing-in ceremony Monday was to be attended by tens of thousands, including international dignitaries.
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