South Korean president Park Geun-hye ordered 10 of her senior secretaries to resign amid claims she let an old friend, the daughter of a religious cult leader, interfere in state affairs.
The announcement by Ms Park's office came before anti-government protests in Seoul over the scandal that is likely to deepen her lame-duck status ahead of next year's elections.
Ms Park has been facing calls to reshuffle her office after she admitted on Tuesday that she gave long-time friend Choi Soon-sil drafts of her speeches for editing.
Her televised apology sparked huge criticism about her mismanagement of national information and heavy-handed leadership style many see as lacking in transparency.
There is also media speculation that Ms Choi, who holds no government job, meddled in government decisions on personnel and policy and exploited her ties with the president to misappropriate funds from non-profit organisations.
Resignation call
The saga, triggered by weeks of media reports, has sent Ms Park’s approval ratings to record lows and the minority opposition Justice Party has called for her to resign.
The Minjoo Party, a larger opposition party, has refrained from calling for Ms Park’s resignation over fears of negatively affecting next year’s presidential vote.
It said her decision to shake up her secretariat was too little and too late and called for stronger changes, including the reshuffling of her cabinet.
In the last few days, prosecutors widened their investigation by raiding homes and offices belonging to Ms Choi and some of her associates and also the offices of two non-profit foundations she supposedly controlled.
Ms Park’s aides on the way out include Woo Byung-woo, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, and Ahn Jong-beom, senior secretary for economic affairs. Lee Won-jong, Ms Park’s chief of staff, tendered his resignation on Wednesday.
Mr Woo has been blamed for failing to prevent Ms Choi from influencing state affairs and has also been embroiled in separate corruption allegations surrounding his family.
Mr Ahn is under suspicion that he helped Ms Choi pressure South Korean companies into making large donations to the Mir and K-Sports foundations, launched in October last year and January this year, respectively. – (AP)