South Korea President Park Geun-hye First Female

2007)

President of the Republic of Korea
Presidential Seal
Presidential Standard;
Park in May 2011 President of South Korea Elect Taking office 25 February 2013 Succeeding Lee Myung-bak Leader of the Grand National Party In office 23 March 2004 – 10 July 2006 Preceded by Choe Byeong-ryeol Succeeded by Kang Jae-sup First Lady of South Korea In office 16 August 1974 – 26 October 1979 President Park Chung-hee Preceded by Yuk Young-soo Succeeded by Hong Gi Member of the National Assembly In office 30 May 2012 – 10 December 2012 Constituency Proportional Representation No. 11 In office 3 April 1998 – 29 May 2012 Preceded by Kim Suk-won Succeeded by Lee Jong-jin Constituency Dalseong Personal details Born (1952-02-02) 2 February 1952 (age 60) Daegu, South Korea Political party Saenuri Party Alma mater Sogang University University of Grenoble Religion None[1] Flag
Residence	Blue House, Seoul
Appointer	Direct popular vote
Term length	Five years not renewable
Inaugural holder	Syngman Rhee July 24, 1948
Website	(English) english.president.go.kr (Korean) president.go.kr

The President of the Republic of Korea (대한민국의 대통령; 大韓民國大統領) is, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, chief executive of the government, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the head of state of the Republic of Korea. The Constitution and the amended Presidential Election Act of 1987 provide for election of the president by direct, secret ballot, ending sixteen years of indirect presidential elections under the preceding two governments. The President is directly elected to a five-year term with no possibility of re-election.^[1] If a presidential vacancy should occur, a successor must be elected within sixty days, during which time presidential duties are to be performed by the prime minister or other senior cabinet members in the order of priority as determined by law. While in office, the chief executive lives in Cheong Wa Dae and is exempt from criminal liability except for insurrection or treason.

Since February 25, 2008, Lee Myung-Bak (pronounced /ˌliː ˌmjʌŋ ˈbɑːk/, Korean: [i mjʌŋbak̚]; born 19 December 1941) has been the incumbent president, but will soon relinquish the office to Park Geun-Hye, who has been elected the 18th President of South Korea. Park will be South Korea's first female president.

Park describes herself as an atheist. Although she received a baptismal name while she attended Sogang University in Seoul several decades ago, her aides said she does not attend Sunday services.

They said the daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee has a strong bond with Buddhists due to the influence of her late mother, Yook Young-soo, who was a pious Buddhist. The aides added that she is also close to several prominent Protestants.

Because of this background, some analysts say Park is de facto affiliated with the three key religions and this would help her relationship with Buddhists during her presidential campaigns.

According to a 2005 survey, Buddhists make up 22.8 percent of the population, followed by Protestants with 18.3 percent and Catholics with 10.9 percent.

Incumbent President Lee Myung-bak, former President Kim Young-sam and Lee Hoi-chang, who ran unsuccessfully in presidential elections on the Grand National Party (now the Saenuri Party) ticket twice in 1997 and 2002, had difficulty in handling a backlash from Buddhists.

They alleged that the two Protestant Presidents chose Cabinet ministers based on religion, saying those who attended Protestant churches were favored in reshuffles. Both Lee and Kim denied the allegation, saying nominations for key government posts were made based on merit.

In a Korea Institute for Religious Freedom survey in 2007, former President Kim was depicted as the most biased leader.

Lee Hoi-chang, who attended a Catholic church, also faced criticism from Buddhists during the presidential campaigns.

In September 1997, Lee drew the ire of Buddhists for his remarks that the rule of holding state exams on Sunday made it difficult for Protestant or Catholic applicants to take the test as they had to miss their Sunday worship. He vowed to reconsider the policy, if elected president.

Buddhists said changing the state-exam rule to favor Christians was discrimination against people having different religions such as Buddhists, urging Lee to offer an apology for his remarks.

Unlike them, the late former President Kim Dae-jung had no major problems with Buddhists during the presidential campaign as well as in office.

Some alleged the late Kim’s family’s unique religious background could have helped him avoid any major clashes during his political career.

Kim was a Protestant, his wife Lee Hee-ho attended a Catholic church, while his eldest son is a Buddhist.

US military's death toll in the Afghan war passed 2,000.

A checkpoint shooting in eastern Afghanistan has taken the US military's death toll in the war past 2,000.

A US soldier and contractor were killed while three Afghan soldiers died and several were injured.

The new deaths occurred on Saturday in Wardak province.

The international mission, Isaf, initially said the soldier was believed to have been killed by a member of the Afghan security services, but it later said the circumstances were unclear.

What is known is that a firefight took place, after what Isaf described as a short conversation between coalition and Afghan soldiers, says the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul.

Isaf says "insurgent fire" may have been involved in the incident, which is now under investigation by a joint Afghan and coalition team, adds our correspondent.

The American death toll goes back to the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
'Checkpoint row'
Sunday's incident took place at a checkpoint near an Afghan National Army base in the district of Sayedabad, according to Afghan officials.

Shahidullah Shahid, a provincial government spokesman, earlier told the Associated Press news agency that an Afghan soldier had turned his gun on Americans and started shooting.

"Initial reports indicate that a misunderstanding happened between Afghan army soldiers and American soldiers," he said.

But Isaf later said an American soldier and an American contractor, along with three Afghan soldiers, were killed in an exchange of fire in confusing circumstances that may have involved insurgent activity.

Military officials from both sides have launched a joint investigation.
Two thousand dead
The figure of 2,000 deaths was given by US officials on Sunday. During the war in Iraq, 4,409 American soldiers were killed.

As of 27 September, the Pentagon's official military death toll for Afghanistan had stood at 1,996.

Continue reading the main story

Afghan war deaths

• 2,000 US soldiers
• 1,066 non-US coalition soldiers
• possibly 20,000 civilians
• 10,000 members of Afghan security forces
• hundreds of private contractors
• unknown number of insurgents

The count includes both soldiers killed in action and soldiers who died of their injuries in hospital. The figure also covers 339 non-combat deaths.

A report by the Brookings Institution estimates that 40.2% of US deaths were caused by improvised explosive devices and 30.3% by gun attacks.

Officially, at least 17,644 US soldiers have been wounded in action in Afghanistan.

The independent organisation iCasualties estimates a higher US death toll, recording 2,125 to date.

This same source reports 1,066 deaths of non-US members of the coalition in Afghanistan. Since the war began, 433 British soldiers have been killed.

It is more difficult to establish the Afghan toll in the war but most estimates calculate a minimum of 20,000 civilian deaths, AP notes.

Some 10,000 members of the Afghan security forces have been killed. No reliable figures exist for deaths among the Taliban and other insurgents.

Nato combat troops are set to withdraw by the end of 2014, but a central plank of the strategy is that foreign soldiers will serve alongside and train Afghans for many years to come.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19776402

Afghanistan Coalition Military Fatalities By Year

Year	US	UK	Other	Total
2001	12	0	0	12
2002	49	3	18	70
2003	48	0	10	58
2004	52	1	7	60
2005	99	1	31	131
2006	98	39	54	191
2007	117	42	73	232
2008	155	51	89	295
2009	317	108	96	521
2010	499	103	109	711
2011	418	46	102	566
2012	310	44	48	402
2013	46	6	7	59
Total	2220	444	644	3308

http://icasualties.org/

The World April 2012 Syria, North Korea, Sarkozy and France

Comment

Syria blood baths is coming to check after more than one year of Bashar Al-Assad Tyranny with the support of China and Russia. Now Bashar Al-Assad must be careful and stop his accesses.

News

A day ago, crowds in the Syrian city of Hama welcomed a U.N. team sent in to observe a shaky truce. On Monday, government troops opened fire on the same streets, killing dozens, activists said, raising fears the regime is targeting opponents emboldened to protest by the U.N. monitors.


U.S. President Barack Obama and European countries announced new sanctions against Damascus, while the U.N.'s political chief said the Syrian government has failed to implement the peace plan designed to end 13 months of deadly conflict that has killed more than 9,000 people.

The new bloodshed - the worst violence in the central city of Hama in months - came despite the cease-fire that went into effect April 12. Skepticism about the commitment to the truce by Syrian President Bashar Assad remains high among the regime's opponents and some of the peace plan's key backers, such as the United States.

Comment
North Korea is getting very reckless and wonder if shipment of food to its people will quite them down.
 
 
News
 
North Korea sharply escalated the rhetoric against its southern rival, claiming it will soon conduct "special actions" that would reduce South Korea's conservative government to ashes within minutes.


Monday's threat from the North's military leadership comes amid concerns that North Korea may be plotting another provocation in the wake of an unsuccessful rocket launch condemned by the U.N. Security Council as a violation of a ban against missile activity.


Comment

Mr. Sarkozy had lot of fun with Germany Angela Merkel and now he should go back to his wife and have more fun. Time out for presidency.

News

Nicolas Sarkozy Long Finger

A victory for François Hollande, a disappointment for Sarkozy and a triumph for Marine Le Pen; the first-round of French elections have been enlightening not only as a preview of the second round, but for future elections as well.

Worthy Blog Sites Politicals Comments

http://bloggingblue.com/

Iran is Making in Roads to South America

President of Iran visits Nicaragua, Venzuela, Cuba and others. Commercial projects and deals.