Park Geun-hye, President of South Korea

Park Geun-hye, nicknamed the Queen of Elections, has followed in the footsteps of her late father, former South Korean President Park Chung-hee, by winning the presidency in December 2012.

She will become the first female president of Asia's fourth-largest economy after taking office in February 2013.

Park is generally considered to be one of the most influential politicians in South Korea since the era of the "three Kims," as in Kim Young-sam, Kim Dae-jung, and Kim Jong-pil, which came to an end in 2002.