Korean famous daughter aims high

Being the daughter of a former leader has proved an unbeatable political asset in many parts of Asia, from the Philippines and Indonesia to India and Pakistan. Now the daughter of the former South Korean military dictator, Park Chung-hee, is setting her sights on the presidency of the continent's fourth largest economy. As chair of the Grand National Party, Park Geun-hye led conservative forces to a crushing victory over the ruling Uri party in local and regional elections last week. She proved her resolve, and won over some sceptics, with a steely response to a savage knife attack during a campaign rally, which left her with an 11cm (four inch) gash on her face that required 60 stitches.

"She was so stable and calm," said political analyst Hahm Sang-dok of Korea University. "We have a traditional view in this country that women are weak but she proved her ability to handle an unexpected crisis." Just 10 days after being slashed with a box cutter by a deranged man, Miss Park returned to the campaign trail and helped ensure the rout of the ruling party, which won only one of 16 major cities and provinces up for grabs. Her response reminded many of her father, who famously finished a speech after his wife - and Miss Park's mother - was shot dead by an assassin's bullet during an Independence Day rally in 1974. President Park was himself shot dead five years later in 1979 by his spy chief as he clung to autocratic rule in the face of a growing democracy movement.

Adapted from BBC News, June 2006

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