S. Korean candidate in late dictator dad’s shadow

In this photo taken Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012, ruling Saenuri Party presidential candidate Park Geun-hye, right, talks with South Korean business leaders during a financial strategy forum in Seoul, South Korea. Park attempts to become the country’s first female president and keep the government in conservative hands in the Dec. 19 election. She has been in the public eye longer than either of her rivals and is a skilled political operator, but she is also hounded by her late father Park Chung-hee’s complicated legacy, which continues to divide many South Koreans. AP

SEOUL, South Korea—Park Geun-hye is well positioned to become South Korea’s first woman president. She has been in the public eye longer than her rivals and is a skilled political operator. But she’s hobbled by a man who has been dead more than 30 years: her father.

The late dictator Park Chung-hee is revered for steering South Korea to economic and diplomatic power with a hostile North Korea at its doorstep. And he is loathed for what rights groups call a long history of torture, unlawful executions and other abuses of power.

Park Geun-hye has been in the public eye for decades but has repeatedly stumbled when she talks about her father’s complicated legacy. She leads in the polls, but she could be vulnerable if her two main challengers join forces.