SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- The ruling Saenuri Party's presidential hopeful Park Geun-hye on Monday expressed remorse and apologized to all those who suffered under her late father's rule, a move aimed to shed the historic baggage that has plagued her campaign.

In a news conference held at the party headquarters in Seoul, the 60-year-old candidate said the 1961 military coup that brought her father to power; the 1972 Yushin Constitution, which effectively allowed late President Park Chung-hee to stay in power indefinitely and suppressed dissent; and the Inhyukdang incident that resulted in the execution of eight people, all delayed South Korea's political development and hurt the value of its Constitution.