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Asia: Ms Park could be a first for South Korea...and East Asia

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Asia: Ms Park could be a first for South Korea...and East Asia

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Park Geun-hye (centre) has launched a bid to become the first woman to lead South Korea.

Photo credit: Lim Hun-jung/Reuters

Many countries in South and South East Asia have been run by females as head of state or head of government, among them India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand, but no woman has been in charge, other than fleetingly, of a country in East Asia, a region that encompasses China, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Japan and Mongolia and contains more than a fifth of the world's population.

Nyam-Osoryn Tuyaa's stint as acting prime minister of Mongolia in 1999 lasted just eight days, while Soong Ching-ling, technically the head of state of China for periods during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, was far from being the country's most powerful individual.

Ms Park's election would therefore represent a first, which is perhaps surprising given that several East Asian nations are far more developed than many of the Asian states that have already been run by women. Several factors help explain the modest success of women in East Asian politics, according to Chung Chin-sung, a sociology professor at Seoul National University, affiliated to the institute of gender research.

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Park Geun-hye (centre) has launched a bid to become the first woman to lead South Korea.

Photo credit: Lim Hun-jung/Reuters

Many countries in South and South East Asia have been run by females as head of state or head of government, among them India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand, but no woman has been in charge, other than fleetingly, of a country in East Asia, a region that encompasses China, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Japan and Mongolia and contains more than a fifth of the world's population.

Nyam-Osoryn Tuyaa's stint as acting prime minister of Mongolia in 1999 lasted just eight days, while Soong Ching-ling, technically the head of state of China for periods during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, was far from being the country's most powerful individual.

Ms Park's election would therefore represent a first, which is perhaps surprising given that several East Asian nations are far more developed than many of the Asian states that have already been run by women. Several factors help explain the modest success of women in East Asian politics, according to Chung Chin-sung, a sociology professor at Seoul National University, affiliated to the institute of gender research.

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Issues