(Image source: euronews )   BY ZACH TOOMBS   South Korea’s presidential vote Wednesday both broke barriers and harkened back to a past regime.   Voters elected conservative Park Geun-Hye, the first female head of state in a nation with the developed world’s highest level of wage inequality between men and women. [Video: euronews ]   She’s expected to uphold the current government’s hardline stance toward North Korea but is also open to talks with the neighboring nation. She’ll replace President Lee Myung-bak, a member of her own party. [Video: NHK ]   Park is also the daughter of former South Korean leader Park Chung-Hee — critics called him a dictator who cracked down on political opponents with violence and imprisonment. Supporters note the economic progress he oversaw. Both he and the young Park’s mother were assassinated in the 1970s. [Video: CNN ]   Park’s opponent, human rights lawyer Moon Jae-in, was once imprisoned by Park Chung-Hee during a political protest. He had promised reaching out to North Korea with economic aid, hoping to soften 50 years of harsh relations. [Video: Arirang News ]   Moon drew the majority of the youth vote, many of his supporters posting photos of themselves voting to social media sites to encourage more turnout.   Mark Mackinnon of The Globe and Mail writes:   "Ms. Park’s campaign relied heavily on the support of older South Koreans who remember her father … The association with her father helped her overcome some deeply held prejudices among male voters."   Despite below-freezing temperatures, The Guardian reports South Korea saw record voter turnout Wednesday — 76 percent — the highest in 15 years.   At 60 years old, Park faces not only a threatening presence in North Korea, but also a slew of economic issues, which voters said were of even higher importance than their northern rival. She’ll replace current President Lee Myung-bak February 25.