Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Park Geun-hye says she is "heartbroken" over the scandal

Hundreds of thousands of protesters have gathered in the South Korean capital, Seoul, to demand the resignation of President Park Geun-hye. Prosecutors have arrested Choi, one of her key associates and two former presidential aides who allegedly helped Choi interfere with government decisions and amass an illicit fortune at the expense of businesses. "As people are furious about scandal, we are carefully watching the situation and trying to figure out a way to deal with it," an unnamed presidential official told the Yonhap News Agency. Park's approval rating has dropped to 5 per cent for a second week, according to a poll conducted by Gallup Korea and released on Friday, the lowest number for a South Korean president since such polling began under democratically elected leaders in 1988. Park is the daughter of Park Chung-hee who took power in a 1961 military coup and ruled until he was assassinated by his disgruntled spy chief in 1979, five years after his wife was shot dead in the head by a killer who meant to shoot him. It was the third weekend protest rally since Ms Park’s first public apology on October 25th where she admitted she had sought the advice of her friend, Choi Soon-sil, which only fuelled public anger and suspicion over the secret confidant who apparently held no official government position. Yet the classified information scandal, while rare and shocking in South Korea, isn't the only reason many are calling for her to step down. Protesters also marched on a road in front of the palace gate and near the Blue House, the mountainside presidential office and residence, carrying candles, blowing horns and banging drums, while shouting "Park Geun-hye, resign!" It's less than a mile from the site of the protest, but roads were blocked by police buses and riot police.
As many as 1,000,000 people march on the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, calling for the resignation of President Park Geun-hye amid an ongoing corruption scandal. It is the largest protest in South Korea since the protests against U.S. beef imports in 2008.