The eldest daughter of former president Park Chung-hee, Park Geun-hye was no stranger to politics even before she became president herself.

She served as the country’s first lady at the age of 22 after her mother was killed by a DPRK gunman, and later endured the assassination of her father.

But as South Korea’s first female president, criticism never went away. Her handling of the SEWOL ferry tragedy in 2014 and tensions on the Korean Peninsula brought a lot of blame. Eventually, the political scandal surrounding her close friend Choi Soon-sil put an end to her presidency. 

Here is a look at her path to the presidency and her eventual downfall.