As the daughter of strongman Park Chung-hee, the 64-year-old Park Geun-hye is no stranger to politics. Let's take a look now at the ups and downs of her political career.

Park Geun-hye served as the country's first lady at the age of 22, after her mother was murdered by a DPRK gunman on August 15th, 1974.

Five years later, Park's father was also assassinated. Park would lead an almost reclusive life away from politics for the next 20 years. She worked for the Girl Scouts, Lingnan University and an educational foundation.

Park is not married. Or rather, she says she's married to her country.

She holds an engineering degree from Sogang University in Seoul and was first elected to South Korea's National Assembly in 1998. She sought the presidency in 2007, but was defeated by Lee Myung-bak in her Saenuri party's primary election.

Park made history in 2012 when she became the first female president not only in South Korea but in all of Northeast Asia.

"As president, I will strive to revive the national economy, finance and culture, and try my best to elevate people's living standards," said Park.

Since taking office, Park's government has faced many issues in her country and abroad. She was blamed for the Seoul ferry tragedy in 2014 and the latest tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

But none of the past criticism can compare to the corruption scandal surrounding Choi Soon-sil. The two women's relationship dates back to the 1970s when Choi's father, the religious leader Choi Tae-min, acted as Park's mentor. After his death in 1994, Choi Soon-sil stayed friends with Park. Now she is in the middle of an influence-peddling scandal rocking her country.