The daughter of the strongman who ruled South Korea for much of the 1960s and 1970s, Park Geun-hye was inaugurated as the east Asian powerhouse's first woman president in February. Five times an MP, the 60-year old conservative had earlier served as her father Park Chung-hee's de facto first lady after her mother, Yuk Young-soo, was killed by a sniper's bullet intended for the president (who was himself killed five years later by his own intelligence chief in 1979). Gracious but tough (she once continued campaigning after requiring 60 stitches following a knife attack), Park, who has devoted herself to her father's legacy and never married, says one of her key priorities will be repairing the country's vitally important relations with North Korea. Some are optimistic for the cause of women following Park's election in a country which, despite its advanced economy, ranks only 108 out of 135 for gender equality. Others fear she is merely the latest in a line of prominent Asian daughters.