Korean famous daughter aims high

Park Geun-hye is not advocating a return to dictatorship, but acquaintances say she is very conservative and troubled by the left wing turn of Korean politics in recent years. Miss Park's response to being stabbed won her sympathy She wants to strengthen the increasingly rickety alliance with the United States and stress economic growth over redistribution. "She still has the image of the dictator's daughter to me," said office worker Hong Soo-kyung, "there's rather an old-fashioned feel about her." Liberals and leftists, who recall the bitter struggles with her father, will not be won over. But many younger Koreans are attracted by Park Geun-hye's calm dignity - and her image as a newcomer untainted by scandal. "She's proved highly effective on the campaign trail. She has better name recognition than other conservative leaders, and most people now see her in her own right - distinct from her father," said Professor Hahm of Korea University.

The conservatives' recent electoral success will boost her chances of winning the hotly contended nomination as presidential candidate for the Grand National Party. After two successive defeats, the party is desperate for victory in next year's election. But she still faces formidable rivals inside the party. Despite her conservative convictions, Park Geun-hye, has shown herself to be pragmatic and flexible on policy towards North Korea. She favours reconciliation and economic co-operation with the North - in contrast to others in her party who want a less indulgent approach. In 2002, she travelled to Pyongyang to meet the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. By all accounts they got on well. Both are the offspring of ruthless charismatic figures who built the two Korean states in their own image: a hard driving economic power house that still confronts the world's most absolute and resilient totalitarian state.

Adapted from BBC News, June 2006

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