By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
Park Geun-ryeung, the daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee, will marry Shin Dong-uk, a professor of cultural studies at Baekseok College whom she met in 2006. Their wedding will take place on Oct. 13 at the KT Youido Convention Wedding Hall in Seoul.
``This will open a new chapter in my life. I've met my true love and we will never be apart,'' she told local media.
The bride-to-be is the second daughter of the late Park and the younger sister of National Assembly Lawmaker Park Geun-hye, the former chairwoman of the governing Grand National Party.
The late Park was president from 1963 to 1979.
Park Geun-ryeung currently serves as the chairwoman of the Korean Children's Center, a non-profit agency established in 1969 by her mother, the late Yuk Young-soo.
The expectant bride told local media, ``My parents are watching from the heavens and will be really happy about the upcoming wedding.''
Both her parents were gunned down when she was in her early 20s. Her mother was shot and killed in 1974 by a North Korean agent who was attempting to assassinate her father. In 1979, he was killed while in office by Kim Jae-kyu, then director of the country's spy agency.
This is the second marriage for both Park, 54, and Shin, 40. Park said the couple enjoy climbing mountains in the countryside. Their favorite date? A walk from Cheonggye-cheon to Shindang-dong, where Park's parents owned their first home.
Their wedding will not be an extravagant affair, Park told reporters. Instead of accepting congratulatory floral arrangements, the couple will ask their guests to bring donations to help needy families.