SEOUL - Park Geun-Hye became South Korea's first female president Monday, vowing zero tolerance with North Korean provocation and demanding Pyongyang "abandon its nuclear ambitions" immediately.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was singled out for a special greeting by brand new president Park Geun-hye at the inauguration reception line on Monday, and then had the best "seat" in the house for a Gangnam Style show.
As leader of Asia's fourth-largest economy, Ms Park, the 61-year-old daughter of late military strongman Ms Park Chung-Hee, faces challenges of slowing growth and soaring welfare costs in one of the world's most rapidly ageing societies.
Taking the oath of office less than two weeks after North Korea carried out its third nuclear test, Ms Park Geun-Hye called on the regime in Pyongyang to "abandon its nuclear ambitions without delay" and rejoin the international community.
"North Korea's recent nuclear test is a challenge to the survival and future of the Korean people, and there should be no mistake that the biggest victim will be none other than North Korea itself," she said.
"I will not tolerate any action that threatens the lives of our people and the security of our nation," Ms Park said, while promising to pursue the trust-building policy with Pyongyang that she had promised in her campaign.
"I will move forward step by step on the basis of credible deterrence," she added.
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Media reports from Seoul said that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra congratulated the new president with a wish she would be a successful woman leader.
Ms Yingluck and Ms Park shake hands for the cameras recording official inauguration events in Seoul on Monday.
The two then moved into a private room for talks. South Korean sources said Ms Park may have raised the hope that South Korean firms would get contracts in the post-flood water-management schemes.
Ms Yingluck, spokesmen said, pressed the idea of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Thailand and South Korea, as well as expanding bilateral trade to US$30 billion by 2016, a goal already set last year.
Ms Yingluck left Seoul Monday night for Hong Kong, and another two-day official visit.
Observers say Ms Park's options will be limited by the international outcry over the North's February 12 nuclear test, which has emboldened the hawks in her ruling conservative party who oppose closer engagement.
There was no immediate reaction from Pyongyang, but an editorial Monday in the ruling Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun carried a clear message for Ms Park to avoid the "confrontational" policies of her predecessor Lee Myung-Bak.
"Inter-Korean relations have become so tense that the Korean peninsula is threatened with armed conflict," the newspaper warned.
Monday's two-and-a-half hour inauguration ceremony, held on a chilly and cloudy morning, included a musical warm-up concert that saw Korean rapper Psy perform his global hit "Gangnam Style".
President Park took office a little more than 50 years after her father, a vehement anti-communist, seized power in a military coup.
Park Chung-Hee ruled with an iron fist for the next 18 years until his assassination, and remains a divisive figure -- credited with dragging the country out of poverty but reviled for his regime's human rights abuses.
The bulk of Ms Park's inauguration speech focused on the economy, and included commitments to job creation, expanded welfare and "economic democratisation" at a time of growing concern with income and wealth disparity.
South Korea's extraordinary economic revival from the rubble of the 1950-53 Korean War -- known as the "Miracle on the Han" -- has faltered in recent years, with key export markets hit by the global downturn.
Promising "another miracle", Ms Park said her administration would build a new "creative economy" that would move beyond the country's traditional manufacturing base and focus on science and technology.
In a clear warning to the giant, family-run conglomerates, or "chaebols", that dominate the national economy, Ms Park promised a more level playing field and a "fair market" where small and medium-sized businesses could flourish.
"By rooting out various unfair practices and rectifying the misguided habits of the past which have frustrated small business owners... we will provide active support to ensure that everyone can live up to their fullest potential," she said.
Chaebols such as Samsung and Hyundai were the original drivers of the nation's industrialisation and economic growth, but have been criticised as corporate bullies who muscle out smaller firms and smother innovation.
South Korea's journey from war-torn poverty to economic prosperity has done little to break the male stranglehold on political and commercial power in what in many ways remains a very conservative nation.
As South Korea's first female president, Ms Park leads a country that is ranked below the likes of Suriname and the United Arab Emirates in gender equality.