All Set for Park Geun-hye's Inauguration

President Park Geun-hye is formally being inaugurated as Korea's first female president on Monday morning. Her five-year term starts at midnight Monday with civil representatives ringing a bell 33 times at the Boshingak Pavillion in downtown Seoul.

The inauguration ceremony starts at 11 a.m. in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido attended by 70,000 people, including past presidents, dignitaries, foreign ambassadors and citizens.

Park prepared only a 15-minute inaugural speech, in contrast to her predecessors' 30 minutes, to reflect her belief that actions are more important than words, a Cheong Wa Dae official said.

Rather than an inauguration ceremony for high-profile foreign and domestic dignitaries, officials have been planning the event centering on ordinary people. During previous presidential ceremonies, ordinary citizens were seated on a lower dais than dignitaries and foreign envoys, but this time 100 hand-picked citizens sit on the same level.