President Park Geun-hye on Sunday lamented the snowballing scandal over allegations that a group of her core aides meddled in state affairs behind the scenes and asked that people wait for the results of prosecution probe.

"I think it's a shame that the entire country is swayed by the type of stories that are typically mentioned in private papers,"

Park was quoted as saying during a luncheon with the ruling party leadership, referring to unofficial chit sheets, mostly carrying unconfirmed rumors, that are made for circulation in the stock market.

The scandal sprouted from allegations that Jeong Yun-hoe, who served as chief secretary to Park during her term in parliament, interfered in state affairs, though he currently holds no government position.

An internal document allegedly leaked from the presidential office and reported by multiple news outlets indicates that Jeong regularly met with key presidential officials outside of their office and worked out personnel reshuffles, including the presidential chief of staff, and other state issues. 

The presidential office has dismissed the document, dated Jan. 6, as nothing but a collection of groundless rumors and asked the prosecution to look into the case.

Park, during the luncheon meeting, asked the participants to play a role in preventing the "consuming" controversy from impeding state management, especially at a time when the economy is on the brink of a crisis.

"After a daily reported the suspicions without properly confirming them, other news media are continuing to make absurd allegations. I want you to watch the result of the prosecution's probe (into the case) without being swayed by such unilateral allegations," she said. (Yonhap)