Park Geun-hye (Yonhap News)
South Korean President Park Geun-hye and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un were named among the top 500 most powerful individuals in the world by Foreign Policy, a U.S.-based magazine on global politics and economy.
The magazine on Monday announced 500 individuals around the world that it deemed the most influential in their respective fields, whether it was politics, finance, religion or military force.
Joining Park on the list were nine other South Koreans, including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and opposition party leader Moon Hee-sang.
Kim Jong-un (Yonhap News)
Kim Jong-un was the sole representative on the list from the authoritarian state of North Korea.
More than one-fifth of the elite group was from the U.S., demonstrating the country’s steadfast prominence on the world stage. A total of 141 Americans, including President Barack Obama and software mogul Bill Gates, made it to the top 500.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese leader Shinzo Abe were also among the most noticeable names on the list.
By Yoon Min-sik and news reports
(
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)