President-elect Park Geun-hye’s inauguration ceremony next month will be held under the main theme of “Unity, progress and into the lives of the people,” to reflect her vision for national unity, the chief organizer said on Sunday.

“It is meant to present the president-elect’s will to open the new era of hope by gathering people’s energy for national unity,” said Kim Jin-sun, chairman of Park’s inauguration preparation committee.

“The inauguration ceremony will also introduce valuable assets of Korean culture and will accompany active participation by the people,” he said.

Along with the theme, the preparation committee picked “Opening the new era of hope,” as the slogan for the inaugural ceremony and the Korean “taegeuk” mark as the ceremony’s emblem.

Prior to the inauguration, Park will ring the bell at Bosingak in Seoul with 18 representatives selected from across the country at midnight on Feb. 25 to signal the start of the new administration. She will then visit the National Cemetery in southern Seoul in the morning, and then attend the inaugural ceremony to be held in the square in front of the National Assembly’s main building in Yeouido. A series of performances, including traditional arts and K-pop, will be staged to welcome the new president. Psy, a Korean pop star who rose to international fame with his mega-hit song “Gangnam Style,” will also take the stage, Kim said.

The ceremony will be attended by about 60,000 people and a half of them will be ordinary citizens, he said. So far, about 81,000 people have applied for the national event.

Park will host her first banquet for foreign envoys and distinguished guests later in the evening, Kim said. He didn’t reveal the list of foreign delegations, citing diplomatic protocol.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)