South Korea's embattled president Park Geun-hye has kicked out her prime minister and finance minister – as a scandal about a friend accused of meddling in state affairs threatens to topple her administration.
At the centre of the scandal is a secret adviser, Choi Soon-sil, a long-time unelected confidante of the president who is suspected of wielding undue influence and abusing her position to siphon millions of dollars from non-profit funds.
State prosecutors on Wednesday asked a local court to issue a warrant to formally arrest Ms Choi, although they said it was too early to say if their investigation would be widened to include the president, saying they were “not yet at the stage to talk about it”.
Ms Park hopes that by kicking out her closest aides she can offset the damage from the scandal and restore public confidence in her government, but opposition parties have denounced the reshuffle as a bid to divert attention from the political crisis.
Assassinated
Under the reshuffle, there will be a power-sharing governance structure in which the president takes charge of external affairs, such as defence and foreign policy, with the premier controlling internal matters.
The Yonhap news agency cited presidential aides saying that prime minister-designate Kim Byong-joon, if approved by parliament, would take control of domestic affairs, indicating Ms Park will take a back seat in running the country.
Ms Choi is the daughter of the shadowy Choi Tae-min, the "Rasputin-like" leader of a small cult known as the Church of Eternal Life.
He became a mentor to the young Park Geun-hye in the 1970s, claiming that in his dreams he could contact her dead mother Yuk Young-soo, who was assassinated in 1974. Ms Park’s father – and Ms Yuk’s husband – the dictator Park Chung-hee was killed in 1979.
Public backlash
Thousands of South Koreans have taken to the streets to demand Ms Park step down.
Her approval ratings have hit 9 per cent, the lowest since her presidency began in February 2013, but she has rejected calls to step down.
An anonymous official from the presidential office told Yonhap: “President Park has taken the public backlash heavily and is gravely aware of the current situation.”
The scandal has highlighted how influential, and pervasive, cults and alternative religions are in South Korea.
Christianity and Buddhism are the most popular formal religions, but Korean Shamanism, also known as Muism or Sinism, incorporates numerous indigenous beliefs and is also popular.
In September, the group known as Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light held a world peace summit in the country.
South Korea is also home to the Unification Church, or “Moonies”, which is famous for holding mass weddings and has been criticised for allegedly forcing members to split from their families.
