Former Senior Presidential Secretary for Political Affairs Kim Jae-won may have had a point when he said that “the president is lonely and sad, please protect her” in his parting message, though his sympathetic tone was not echoed by the majority of the public.

Yes, President Park Geun-hye is most certain to be lonely as she finds herself isolated from the aggressive legislature, from the half-empty secretariat, from the soon-to-be overhauled Cabinet, from the furious public -- in short, from the nation which she is supposed to govern.

But one would hardly think that her “sadness” is justified as it was brought on by her own inappropriate involvement with a corrupt shadow broker, dampening the spirits of even those most loyal to her.

The distressed president on Tuesday made her first public appearance in five days with a meeting of the newly-appointed foreign ambassadors in Korea to receive their letters of credence.

But apart from this diplomatic ceremony, most of the president’s pre-scheduled events have been called off since she hurriedly issued a very terse “apology” last Tuesday, admitting to her long-suspected ties with Choi Soon-sil.

The only official actions taken by the feud-ridden state chief during those frantic days were to order her senior secretaries to submit their resignation en masse and to replace some of the most disputed members.

Cheong Wa Dae attributed Park’s prolonged silence to her “prudent contemplation” on how to respond to the people’s call for reform, especially on how to restructure the Cabinet.

Such pretext obviously did not have the intended effect, as Park’s approval rating has continued to plunge.

The Blue House has so far feigned indifference to the plummeting polls, but now faced with the risk of an unprecedented single-digit popularity rating, the president should grasp the reality that “prudent contemplation” is not the answer to any of her pressing challenges.

President Park’s approval rating stands at a record low of 10.4 percent, according to a survey released by local pollster Research View on Tuesday.

As shocking as this figure may be, it is more surprising that Park’s longtime stronghold clusters -- elderly voters aged 60 or more and residents of the conservative-leaning Gyeongsang region -- have begun turning their back on her.

Even the ruling conservative Saenuri Party is voicing complaints, some non-mainstream members going as far as demanding her resignation, just like the opposition parties.

The president’s aides have often spoken of Park’s “dark period in life,” when she found herself “cut off from the rest of the world” upon the death of her father, the assassinated autocratic President Park Chung-hee.

This traumatic experience was often used not only to stimulate nostalgia in elderly voters, but also to explain Park’s irrational attachment to the controversial aide Choi, as well as to her deceased father and cult leader Choi Tae-min.

But this time, the “isolation” is real for the president who now has nowhere to turn to, in this nation in which she is still the nominal leader.

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