A group of professors at South Korea's top university called on President Park Geun-hye Thursday to reform the way she handles state affairs in order to save the country from a crisis.

The Seoul National University chapter of Professors for Democracy, a progressive group, said the country is bogged down in an "overall crisis," for which Park and her incompetent presidential office Cheong Wa Dae are most responsible.

"President Park should face up to the crisis and immediately carry out a full-scale reshuffle of the Cabinet and her office," the group said in a statement.

Through the personnel shakeup, Park should "normalize the nation and restore democratic politics," it added.

The call comes as South Korea has been dogged by a series of scandals during Park's first two years in office, including an alleged power struggle among her key aides that came to light last November.

In April last year, the government came under flak for its poor handling of a ferry sinking off the country's southwest coast, which claimed more than 300 lives.

Park has been under heavy pressure, mostly from the opposition party, to sack her chief of staff and three other key aides accused of meddling in the running of state affairs behind the scenes.

On Tuesday, Park said that she will carry out a small-scale Cabinet shake-up to refresh her team as she enters her third year in power. She, however, failed to give specifics.

The professors also urged Park to deliver on her campaign promises, such as "economic democratization," expanded welfare and improvement of inter-Korean relations.

As Park enters her third year in office this year, her approval rating has hit a record low. According to a Gallup Korea poll released Friday, 35 percent of those polled approved of Park's job performance while 55 percent were unhappy with her running of state affairs and 11 percent had no opinion. (Yonhap)