South Korea's president-elect Park Geun-hye was sworn into office on Monday morning, thereby becoming the first woman ever to hold the country's top post. She replaces Lee Myung-bak as the country's president.
Incidentally, both Park and Lee are from the Saenuri Party. Lee was required under South Korean law to step down after his five-year term in office.
Park, who now has supreme command of the military, said she would "not tolerate any action that threatens the lives of our people and the security of our nation." She also urged North Korea not to follow up its recent nuclear test with further provocative acts.
"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," she said nearly two weeks after Pyongyang carried out its third nuclear test defying repeated international appeals.
Calling on North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions and make serious efforts to ease decades of tensions between the two neighboring countries, Park said: "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."
Park also promised to root out corruption and implement measures aimed at strengthening the country's economy by promoting small and medium-sized enterprises, promising a "clean, transparent and competent government."
Park's inauguration ceremony held at the National Assembly (Parliament) in capital Seoul was witnessed by tens of thousands, including foreign dignitaries like US National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso.
Park Geun-hye, who had defeated her liberal rival Moon Jae-In in the tightly-contested presidential elections held in December, is the daughter of former dictator Park Chung-hee. Her father had seized power in a 1961 coup, and ruled South Korea with a tight fist for eighteen years before being assassinated by his security chief in 1979.
Park's mother was assassinated in 1974 by a pro-North Korea gunman targeting her father. She then served as the country's first lady for five years until her father was assassinated. Her victory in the December elections paved the way for Park's return to the presidential palace after a long gap of fourteen years.
Notably, her inauguration came thirteen days after North Korea carried out its third and largest nuclear test on December 2012. The test, which evoked widespread international condemnation, was in direct violation of UN sanctions imposed on the communist nation for conducting nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
Easing the tensions with the North would be among the top priorities of the incoming South Korean government. Relations between the two nations have been tense ever since Lee took over as South Korea's president in February 2008. Pyongyang had repeatedly accused Lee of pursuing a "confrontational" policy towards the North.
The two countries technically remain at war even now, as the Korean war ended in an armistice in 1953, and not a peace treaty. The war ended after the UN command, fighting on behalf of South Korea, signed the armistice with North Korea and China. Incidentally, South Korea is one of Washington's closet allies in the region, and is currently hosting a number of US military bases with more than 28,500 American troops.
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