Cheong Wa Dae, which has been struggling for months with a corruption scandal involving a top presidential aide, denied Wednesday suspicions that another confidant of President Park Geun-hye used her influence to offer favors to conglomerate-funded foundations.

But despite the Blue House’s denial, the latest charge -- brought up during this week’s parliamentary interpellation and just ahead of next week’s state audit -- added fuel to the opposition parties pressure on President Park Geun-hye’s administration.

The Minjoo Party of Korea and the People’s Party contended on the previous day that the Mir Foundation and K-Sports Foundation had raised massive funds from conglomerates by pulling strings in the government through a close associate of Park.

The argument was led by Rep. Cho Eung-cheon, a former presidential secretary for civil service who turned his back on Cheong Wa Dae in 2015 after leaking internal documents about a presidential aide.

The lawmaker’s claim is that Choi Sun-sil -- the daughter of a deceased mentor to the president and wife of Park’s closest aide Jeong Yun-hoe -- intervened in the Blue House’s personnel appointments and exerted influence to rake in funds for the two foundations, with which she allegedly held close ties.

“Choi was the person who ordered the 3.4 million won ($3,040) hanbok that President Park wore at her inauguration ceremony and delivered the clothes to Park in person,” Rep. Cho said.

“She has also been running personal errands for the president, procuring jewelry and other accessories from Cheongdam-dong (high-end stores).”

He added that Choi even exercised leverage in having Woo Byung-woo appointed as senior presidential secretary for civil affairs. Calls have been mounting from opposition circles since July to dismiss Woo over a number of irregularity allegations, including his monetary ties with high-profile corruption figures.

The presidential office flatly denied all charges.

“There is no need to mention the given allegations as they are not true,” presidential spokesperson Jung Youn-kuk told reporters Tuesday.

Senior presidential secretary for policy coordination An Chong-bum, who was also accused of abusing his power to secure funding for the foundations, similarly denied connection to the issue.

Reacting to Cheong Wa Dae’s response, opposition parties called for a special investigation into the case.

“The establishment and funding process of these two foundations are leading down to a high-profile corruption, possibly involving top presidential aides,” said the Minjoo Party’s floor leader Rep. Woo Sang-ho at a party meeting.

He pointed out that the two organizations won government approval for their establishment in a single day and collected over 80 billion won as “voluntary donations” from conglomerates.

Achieving the process in such a short time would be close to impossible, if not for the foundations’ special connection to government influence, according to Woo.

Rep. Park Jie-won, floor leader and interim chief of the People’s Party, pledged to kick off a state investigation or independent counsel to look into corruption charges surrounding the state leader.

Rep. Roh Hoe-chan, floor leader of the progressive minority Justice Party, even claimed that President Park was using the two foundations to collect secret funds for her retirement, citing a similar case involving former President Chun Doo-hwan.

To take their argument further, opposition members of the parliamentary committee for education, culture, sports and tourism prepared to summon key figures from Cheong Wa Dae and the two foundations for the forthcoming state audit.

The list includes senior presidential secretary An, Mir Foundation chairman Kim Hyung-soo, K-Sports Foundation chairman Jeong Dong-chun and a number of senior conglomerate officials.

Members of the ruling conservative Saenuri Party, however, have said that the opposition is exaggerating the allegations for political aims and that its charges may discourage future donations by financial circles.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)