by REERA YOO | @reeraboo
editor@charactermedia.com
On Tuesday, Forbes named South Korean President Park Geun-hye as the 11th most powerful woman in the world, just one notch below United States first lady Michelle Obama.
Topping Forbes‘ annual list “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” for 10 consecutive years is German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is the longest-serving incumbent head of government in the European Union.
Top five was rounded out by Hillary Clinton, former U.S. secretary of state and 2016 presidential hopeful; Melinda Gates, philanthropist and wife of Bill Gates; Janet Yellen, the first female head of the Federal Reserve; and Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors (GM).
Park took 11th place in the list, followed by talk show host and media proprietor Oprah Winfrey.
Forbes said Park oversees the world’s 14th largest economy from the capital of Seoul, which lies only 120 miles away from the nuclear-armed North Korea. Like Park’s approval ratings, the South Korean economy has been on a downward trend with “weak wages, consumer spending and export market.”
Despite South Korea’s declining economy and various scandals surrounding President Park, including the resignation of Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo, Forbes reported that Park has recently signed a “Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA), an environment cooperation treaty with China and Japan, and has called for a Northeast Asia nuclear safety body.”
You can view Forbes’ entire list of the world’s 100 most powerful women here.
___
Featured image via EPA/Bagus Indahono
