The Saenuri Party announced on Friday its appointment of Margaret Key, the CEO of the Korea branch of Burson-Marstellar, a global public relations and communications firm, as its new spokesperson for foreign press for the party’s presidential election.

Previously, Key served as the managing director of the Tokyo office of Edelman, another global public relations powerhouse, spearheading the firm’s health care communication practice.

In Korea, Key managed the international public relations team at Hyundai Development Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. A child of a British father and a Korean mother, Key, 39, holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature and sociology from Wofford College, a liberal arts college in South Carolina, and a master’s degree in international relations from Yonsei University.

Explaining she believes that the Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate Rep. Park Geun-hye is best suited to become the country’s president with standout views on politics and the economy, Key said she will actively communicate with the foreign press to help them see Park’s human side and not just as a politician.

By Samuel Songhoon Lee  (songhoon@heraldcorp.com)