A file picture showing a candle-lit anti-government rally in central Seoul.[Yonhap News Photo]
South Korea has launched a diplomatic campaign to contain the fallout from a scandal involving President Park Geun-hye's longtime friend that has threatened to put key security and other state affairs on the back burner.
The scandal has roiled South Korea, watched closely by its allies and even rival North Korea, since Park admitted last week that Choi Soon-sil had acted as the president's personal adviser, editing presidential speeches.
Choi returned home from Europe Sunday and was placed under emergency arrest shortly before midnight Monday. The 60-year-old daughter of a religious cult leader who was once seen as Park's anchor is suspected of exploiting her ties with the president to interfere in state affairs.
Surprised at the uncontrollable eruption of public anger and calls for her resignation or impeachment, Park has shoved herself into the back room. The scandal has sent Park's approval ratings to record lows, triggering concern about the early arrival of her lame duck status.
In a special message issued Tuesday, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se ordered South Korean diplomats to allay overseas concerns over the scandal, his spokesman Cho June-hyuck told reporters.
The message called for active diplomatic efforts to "prevent any unnecessary spread of concern over our diplomatic and security posture and our economic situation", Cho said.
The scandal came at the height of cross-border tensions triggered by a series of nuclear and missile tests by North Korea.
Aju News Lim chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
