In a historic moment for Southeast Asia, South Korea elected its first-ever female president on Wednesday.
Park Geun-hye , a conservative and daughter of assassinated former President Park Chung-hee, was elected to South Korea's Blue House on Wednesday, defeating liberal candidate Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party by a 51 percent to 47 percent margin , according to election officials in the nation.
As she greeted supporters in Seoul's central Gwanghwamun Square, Park promised that she would be president of a nation "who keeps pledges."
"This is considered a victory for people who want to overcome crisis and revive the economy. I will never forget the will of the people who believed in me wherever I went during the election campaign," she said, as CNN reported.
On Reddit, reaction has been pouring in regarding Park's win, with those in support and those who decry her election.
"I have no strong reason to believe that Park Geun-Hye will be a bad president, only a disappointing one, which seems to be par for every single Korean president. Here's to hoping she does a good job!," wrote Reddit user deadanimal.
User damngurl posted, "Honestly, Moon and Park were pretty much the same candidate. Both for expanding social services, both for similar foreign policy, etc.
"What's hilarious is that Moon, running on the "ex-human rights lawyer" ticket, vowed to stop gay marriage from getting legalized to get the Christian vote. Some human rights lawyer he was.
"So, I don't think Park getting elected is AS bad as people make it out to be, realizing that the alternative would have been pretty much the same. The thing to blame here is the [expletive] field that is Korean politics."
"The reason she probably won is because Korea's economy is doing quite well under the current regime (lee myung bak) and being conservative doesn't always equal evil," wrote Reddit folowe molinasnecktat. "She is not some fascist ruler, there are checks and balances in place in Korea. I don't think she will become a 20 year leader, id be willing to bet in 5 years she is no longer the president when her term is finished."
"Seems to me she has absolutely no understanding of what it's like to be an average female in Korea," wrote user calling themselves "theindexpage." "I hardly doubt she's ever been cast aside and dismissed for simply being a woman, nor experienced the social and financial inequality in the workplace of Korea. How could she be? She's Park Chung-Hee's daughter, she's rich, and she's a perceived victim (both parent's killed).