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By Park Si-soo
The prosecution has labeled President Park Geun-hye an "accomplice" and "criminal suspect" following a sweeping probe into the corruption scandal involving her long-time friend Choi Soon-sil, although her spokesman has strongly denied all allegations.
Investigators last Sunday revealed charges that could be imposed on the scandalized head of state, but they have remained tight-lipped about details.
But the strategic silence shows signs of breaking as Park's approval rating plunged to an all-time low of 4 percent, which has loosened her grip on law enforcement.
A prosecutor involved in the case recently told reporters that "only 10 seconds of an audio file would be long enough for people to storm the streets with torches, instead of candles." The prosecutor was referring to nearly 50 audio files found on two confiscated smartphones of Jung Ho-sung, Park's close aide, who was arrested recently for allegedly leaking confidential presidential documents to Choi.
The files are believed to contain sensitive dialogue between the President and Jung. Reports have it that the buttoned-up aide admitted his alleged wrongdoings after prosecutors came out with the files.
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The prosecutor refused to elaborate further, but the remark hinted that the recorded dialogue would be extremely provocative to the public.
Another prosecutor recently provided additional information about the files.
"The audio files contain Park's verbal instructions with regard to Choi," the prosecutor was quoted as saying in a Saturday report on cable TV network Channel A. "Prosecutors felt an uncontrollable level of disappointment and fury at the President after listening to the files."
He said some prosecutors wondered how the President could be so "incompetent."
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