President Park Geun-hye’s political predicament worsened Monday, with a former leader of her own ruling party demanding she leave the party.

Kim Moo-sung, a former Saenuri leader, held an emergency conference at the National Assembly and criticized Park for the scandal that involved her allowing her confidante Choi Soon-sil to meddle in state affairs and siphon public funds.

“The president is supposed to protect the Constitution, yet she ran the government in a way that violated it. ... Her powers as the president, bestowed upon her by the people, was used in order to let the Choi family meddle in state affairs and pursue unlawful gains,” he said. “As Saenuri’s No.1 member, the president must leave the party in order to save it.”

Kim stressed that Park leaving the party will allow Saenuri to gain back some of the trust it lost in light of the scandal, adding that the party can even oust the president if she refuses to leave.

He urged Park to accept the opposition’s request for the launch of a neutral Cabinet, while withdrawing her nomination of Kim Byong-joon as the new prime minister and asking the parliament to recommend the new premier.

The opposition and some within the ruling party had decried Park’s pick of Kim and demanded that she let the National Assembly appoint the nation’s new second-in-command, who will take on a much more prominent role.

Kim, a bigwig of the nonmainstream faction within the ruling party, has butted heads with the president on several occasions while he was the party leader, particularly during the nomination process of the general election earlier in the year.

As the president’s approval rating dropping to a low of 5 percent last week, calls for Park to leave the party have been growing even within the Saenuri. They have demanded that Park relinquish her control of state affairs, while retaining her post.

Rep. Kang Seok-ho, the only member of the party’s Supreme Council who is not of the mainstream “pro-Park” faction, stepped down from his post Monday while demanding a reshuffle of the party’s leadership. He echoed Kim’s demands of forming a neutral Cabinet and Park taking a back seat in state affairs.

Rep. Ha Tae-keung, who is also not of the pro-Park faction, said in a Facebook post Monday that it is “very clear” that the president had played a role in the Choi scandal.

“As the prosecution and an independent counsel carries out the investigation, the clearer it will be that Park interfered. ... She must take responsibility,” he wrote, urging Park to “let it go.”

Saenuri leader Lee Jung-hyun, however, refused to step down immediately and asked for more time “to help the president.”

The opposition stepped up calls for Park to resign, buoyed by nationwide discontent that was apparent in the some 200,000 protestors demanding Park’s resignation in central Seoul on Saturday.

“Park must withdraw her Cabinet reshuffle that is directly against public sentiment and must accept the parliament’s recommendation. ... If she continues to refuse, we will have no choice but to push for her resignation,” said Choo Mi-ae, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.

The president has requested for talks with opposition leaders, but the parties have demanded Park’s cancellation of Kim’s nomination as a precondition to the meeting.

Democratic Party floor leader Woo Sang-ho has said that unless Park withdraws the prime minister nomination, the party will not accept her request for a meeting with the party leader. “It can only lead to one of the following three; cancelling the nomination, (Kim’s) resignation or the parliament’s refusal. The conclusion has already been set,” he said.

Rep. Park Jie-won, the floor leader of the minor opposition People’s Party, said that in addition to cancelling the nomination, Park should leave Saenuri before coming to the meeting.

The party’s nine first-term legislators officially demanded the president bow out for the sake of the nation, stressing that her presidency is “broken beyond repair.”

“No exercise of the president’s governing authority would earn the public’s endorsement. The only way for President Park to serve the country is by vacating the office voluntarily,” they said in a joint press conference at the National Assembly.

Park’s new Chief of Staff Han Gwang-ok said that the president could discuss the nomination at the meeting, admitting that the process “has had some problems.”

“While recognizing the problems, it is important for party leaders (and the president) to meet in order to have sufficient time to discuss how to solve this problem,” he said, adding that Park could pay a visit to the parliament if necessary.

Calls for Park’s impeachment have also been growing.

Rep. Chun Jung-bae, formerly the leader of the People’s Party, suggested that the lawmakers should immediately commence discussion on impeaching Park.

Stressing that it is his personal opinion and not the position of his party, Chun called for formation of an interim government and a nationwide discussion on reforming the state system and the presidency itself.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)