SKorea's first woman president hopeful joins race

Seoul, Jun 11: The daughter of South Korea's assassinated president Park Chung-hee today launched a bid to be the country's first woman leader in a race dominated by her main challenger for the opposition conservative's nomination.

Park Geun-hye will face former Seoul mayor and one-time construction boss Lee Myung-bak in the Grand National Party (GNP) primaries in mid-August.

Polls consistently show the winner of that vote should capture the December 19 presidential election by a landslide against left-leaning political groups which have so far been unable to form a cohesive bloc.

''I want to do two things that my father couldn't finish,'' Park told a news conference to formally announce her plan to join the race.

''One is to make the Republic of Korea an advanced country, and the other is to repay all the people who suffered during his time.'' Park, 55, led the conservative opposition Grand National Party through successive parliamentary election victories from 2004 until quitting last year to prepare for her candidacy.

But she is best known as daughter of Park Chung-hee, a graduate of Japan's military academy who took power in a military coup in 1961 and ruled the country with an iron fist and a drive for breakneck economic development until he was shot dead by his disgruntled spy chief in 1979.

She took on the role of acting first lady in 1974 when her mother was killed by a bullet meant for her father.

Remembered by many South Koreans for human rights abuses under his rule, Park's father is also admired for helping turn the country from a poor peasant economy after the 1950-53 war with North Korea into an emerging Asian industrial power.

''I won't forget that the way I can repay those people for their sacrifice is to make democracy flourish further and this country better off,'' Park said.

Park advocates small government, corporate tax cuts and pledges to create 3 million new jobs by 2012.

She has a strong following in the southeast and among older South Koreans around the country, nostalgic for her father's tough style of leadership.

But she faces an unhill battle for her party's nomination against Lee, who has remained far ahead in opinion polls.

The successor to President Roh Moo-hyun will serve a single five-year term and is expected to oversee a constitutional change debate to allow future presidents to stand for two four-year terms.

Park's announcement comes amid deepening disarray in the pro-government Uri Party, which has lost the formidable majority it captured in a 2004 parliamentary election.

Nearly 40 members of the party have already quit and up to 50 more are planning to leave in a move analysts see as an attempt to distance themselves from the unpopular President Roh.

But analysts said their chances of winning the presidency look increasingly slim.

Roh has suffered low public approval levels since early in his term, with ratings wavering between 15 and 30 per cent for the past few months.

Reuters>