Seoul (AsiaNews) - Preceded by rapper Psy's performance of 'Gangnam Style', Park Geun-hye was sworn in as South Korea's new president on a pledge to usher in an era of "people's happiness" before a crowd of some 50,000 people gathered in front of South Korea's National Assembly building. With a full agenda, the new president will have to deal with North Korea's threats, "economic democratisation" and cultural renewal.
In her inaugural speech, Ms Park said, "North Korea's recent nuclear test is a challenge to the survival and future of the Korean people, and there should be no mistake that the biggest victim will be none other than North Korea itself."
However, "Trust can be built through dialogue and by honouring promises that have already been made," she added. At the same time, "It is my hope that North Korea will abide by international norms and make the right choice so that the trust-building process on the Korean Peninsula can move forward."
Elected by a narrow margin in December in a tight race against her Democratic United Party rival Moon Jae-in, Park Geun-hye, 61, replaced Lee Myung-bak, also from her rightwing Saenuri party.
During the campaign, she promised to take a softer line with North Korea compared to her predecessor. During the next five years of her mandate, she plans to lay the bases for future reunification, but also for a new economic miracle based on science and technology as well as a "creative economy" founded on "economic democratisation".
The new president will have to accommodate her hard-core voters, mostly elderly who remember the "good old days" when South Korea's GDP grew by 10 per cent a year under her father's military dictatorship.
A non-practicing Catholic, Park said that the country could go back to such rates. At present, its economy grew an average of 4.3 per cent in the past five years.
Before she was sworn in, rapper Psy performed his world hit Gangnam Style. In her address, Park did not speak about her personal history, marked by tragedy.
When she was 22, she became South Korea's de facto first lady in 1974 after her mother was killed during an attack against her father, Park Chung-hee, who was also killed in 1979. She entered politics in 1998 as a member of the National Assembly.
Under her father's dictatorship (1961-1979), South Korea endured widespread human rights abuses.