South Korea president named one of the most powerful women in the world

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(UPI/GNA) — South Korean President Park Geun-hye was named one of the most powerful women in the world by Forbes magazine on Tuesday.

Park Geun-hye (photo source: scienceartsinfo.blogspot.com)
Park Geun-hye (photo source: scienceartsinfo.blogspot.com)

On a list that included German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Park was ranked 11th most powerful, behind Michelle Obama but ahead of television personality Oprah Winfrey.

The Korea Times reported this is the second consecutive year Park has been included on the Forbes list. In 2014, Park was also ranked 11th most powerful.

Forbes credited Park for bearing “the weight of the Sewol ferry tragedy and a massive bribery scandal on her shoulders.” The magazine reported Park had expressed “regret” over “prevalent, deep-rooted corruption” in April, and that she has been presiding over the world’s 14th-largest economy a mere 120 miles from “irascible” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Park nominated a new prime minster on May 21, after her second prime minister resigned in response to growing queries over a corruption scandal.

The South Korean economy, while slower to grow than in the boom decades of the ’80s and ’90s, was still leaving room for liberalized trade, with the recent signing of a Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement, and another FTA with China, Seoul’s biggest trading partner.

South Korea’s domestic growth is a priority for Park, who recently has launched a campaign to promote South Korea’s “creative economy,” related not only to technology but also the arts.

South Korean business news outlet Money Today reported Park paid a visit to a retrospective exhibit of veteran South Korean cartoonist Hur Young-man on Wednesday.

During her visit with Hur in attendance, she emphasized the importance of creative enterprises to the South Korean economy.

While viewing the exhibit, Park told Hur a humorous anecdote about borrowing “all the books about alcoholic beverages from the library” during her school days, because she knew nothing about the subject for a writing assignment.

“The less you know, the more you devote yourself to the task,” she said.

The White House announced Tuesday that Park is to visit Washington on June 16.

GNA

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