Park Geun-hye (born February 2, 1952) is a South Korean politician. She is a member of the National Assembly and was the head of the conservative Grand National Party, which was founded by her father, the former president Park Chung Hee. She is now in her third parliamentary term, having first been elected in 1998, and is widely expected to be her party's nominee to succeed presidential incumbent Roh Moo-hyun.
Born in Samdeok-dong, in the Jung-gu district of Daegu, Park now resides in nearby Gumi City. She graduated from Seoul's Seongsim High School in 1970, going on to receive a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Sogang University in 1974. In 1987, she earned her doctoral degree from Chinese Culture University in Taiwan.
From her mother's death in 1974 to her father's death in 1979, Park played the role of South Korea's first lady. Park was also the president of Yeungnam University from 1982 to 1991.
On May 20th, 2006, a 50-year old man slashed Park's face with a small knife, causing a 10-centimeter wound on her face, requiring 60 stitches and hours of surgery.[1][2]
[edit] Controversy
Her father, Park Chung Hee, ruled South Korea from 1961 to 1979, when he was assassinated. His legacy is often criticised not only for his increasingly dictatorial rule (especially after 1971), but also his connections to former colonizer Japan. This has become more of an issue recently since the ruling Uri Party has set up committees to investigate Koreans who collaborated with Japan in the past.
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