Cheong Wa Dae is reviewing ways to tighten the reins on public servants in the aftermath of the sexual assault scandal involving fired spokesman Yoon Chang-jung.

The office of senior secretary on civil affairs currently questioning the officials who worked with Yoon during President Park Geun-hye’s U.S. trip last week will expand the investigation to all members of the delegation, Cheong Wa Dae officials said.

Cheong Wa Dae has been trying to contain the political impact of Yoon’s alleged sexual assault on a Korean-American intern in Washington. Park’s approval ratings have already nosedived by around 10 percentage points, while the government’s drive to push through major policies such as inducing investment and creating jobs continue to be eclipsed by news of the scandal.

Chief of staff Huh Tae-yeol on Monday ordered a review of the entire itinerary of the U.S. visit and to draw up a manual to be used as reference on future presidential trips.

Officials said the review would include checking to see if there were any hiccups in the preparation stage, whether the delegation maintained proper manners and behaviors and how the meetings with local representatives were managed.

At the Cabinet meeting, Park reiterated her calls to tighten discipline among public servants.

“Each ministry should establish tighter discipline on public servants so that they do not deviate from what the public expects of them,” Park told the ministers.

“I trust that it was an occasion through which everyone realized how important it is for public servants to behave appropriately,” she said.

She also urged her top government members to continue focusing on the accomplishments made on the U.S. trip, referring to the new vision set for the Korea-U.S. alliance, and winning common understanding from Washington regarding her trustpolitik and Northeast Asia peace initiative doctrines. Park ordered the ministers to closely follow-up all the requests made by Korean-Americans and business delegates during the six-day visit.

Later in the day, Park met with ruling Saenuri Party chairman Hwang Woo-yea and discussed the government’s measures following the scandal.

Park, who offered an apology to the people and the alleged victim a day before, is yet to respond to calls from the opposition forces that she review her controversial personnel appointment style that some point to as being the fundamental cause of the ruckus.

The Saenuri Party has also been calling for an overall revamp of the president’s personnel appointment system that has been criticized as opaque since the days of her transition committee. Yoon was opposed by critics as an inappropriate choice as presidential spokesman upon his appointment.

The war of words between Yoon and Cheong Wa Dae over what happened on the night of the incident has been seen to have exposed lax crisis management procedures and damaged the credibility and administrative capacity of the Park government.

The latest opinion poll conducted by the party’s think tank showed that approval ratings for Park that had started to bounce back upon the U.S. trip had started to decline again.

Her approval numbers surged to 64.5 percent at the beginning of the U.S. visit but dived to 54.6 percent by the end of the second week.

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)