RoK President-elect and national challenges

Her term, due to begin in February, will face the challenges of an economic downturn and tensions on the Korean peninsula. 

Park won the presidential election with the RoK economy at its lowest level in three years. Foreign investment, especially from the Eurozone, has plunged. The Central Bank of Korea recently lowered the economic growth rate to 2.4 percent from the previous estimation of three percent.

The economy is expected to continue its downward trend next year as the real estate market falls and the unemployment rate among young people increases. The income gap between the rich and the poor has widened. The number of households living near the poverty line has increased 10 percent since 2006.

Territorial disputes with Japan and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s nuclear issues remain, particularly after Pyongyang just launched a satellite. Analysts say the two Koreas’ relations have deteriorated during the incumbent president Lee Myung-bak’s term.

To ease voter concerns, Park has promised to resolve social issues like educational overload, housing for young couples, unemployment risk among people over 40, and the lonely elderly. The new government plans to boost the construction of a naval base on Jeju island, improve the capacity of marine police, and expand the social security network.

In order to develop a new economic model, Park aims to form a new Ministry of Science and Innovation to support economic reform and job generation.

The President elect pledged to respect the Prime Minister’s right to choose the new cabinet. She raised the possibility of revising the Constitution to shorten the presidential term from 5 to 4 years.

She said the new government will maintain an open policy to improve relations with the DPRK, resume humanitarian activities and family reunions between the two Koreas, enhance inter-Korean trade, and expand the joint Kaesong Industrial Zone.

She promised to separate humanitarian aid from political issues, and said any big investment in its neighbour should promote a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.

Analysts say Park is well qualified for her new post. Her involvement in politics began when she was 22 and her father Park Chung-hye was the President. She has served five terms as a parliamentarian.

Committed to improving people’s lives and national unity, Park is expected to build on the prestige of her father to solve national security and economic problems.