Cheong Wa Dae’s stance is that Park would rather face “legitimate” measures, than abdication or a face-to-face questioning by the prosecution, which it called “politically biased.”

However, the conservative leader‘s refusal to accept anything other than the impeachment trial has been criticized as a ploy to buy time until the backlash dies down. Park has about 15 months left in her term.

“(Cheong Wa Dae’s official response) was included in the statement made by (Park’s) legal representative and myself yesterday,” Presidential Spokesperson Jung Youn-kuk told reporters Monday, avoiding further questions on the allegations involving the feud-ridden president.

He stuck to his earlier announcement that Park would no longer cooperate with the prosecution and would face the forthcoming independent counsel investigation instead. This also meant that the president would rather face impeachment than voluntarily give up power.

“We hope that the current argument is solved through a legitimate procedure to judge the president’s liability on a constitutional and legal level,” Jung said Sunday, after Park’s lawyer Yoo Yeong-ha vowed to no longer comply with the prosecution’s investigation.

While highlighting her disapproval over the probe, in which she was named as a suspect, Park did loosen up on her earlier attempts to retain her grip over state affairs.

“President Park will not be chairing the Cabinet meeting tomorrow (Tuesday). Deputy Prime Minister for Economy (and Finance Minister) Yoo Il-ho will take charge instead,” said a Cheong Wa Dae official.

This remark came in answer to the growing speculation that Park, after weeks of seclusion from the public, may at last make an official appearance as administrative chief.

The president has recently engaged herself in a number of state actions, such as offering certificates of appointment to new ministers and secretariat officials and meeting with her Kazakhstani counterpart. None of the occasions, however, included an official keynote speech.

It had been anticipated that if Park were to chair the Cabinet meeting Tuesday for the first time since the scandal broke out, her words at the meeting would effectively reflect her views on the situation.

But by crossing out such a scenario, the president apparently leans toward the strategy of keeping the status quo, choosing to hold out until a possible turnaround in public sentiment.

Such unyielding actions by the presidential house left the opposition political circles with few options other than impeachment -- the only binding legal action to force a state chief out of his or her elected position.

The three opposition parties -- the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, runner-up People’s Party and progressive minority Justice Party -- on Monday called for an impeachment motion.

Their intensified reaction came in the wake of the prosecution’s decision Sunday to include the president as a suspect, instead of a mere witness, in the corruption charges involving her aides.

But in consideration of the time-consuming and challenging process of impeachment -- which not only requires a parliamentary consent but also the approval of the Constitutional Court -- the parties also vowed to continue their calls for Park’s voluntary resignation as part of a two-pronged strategy.

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