President Park Geun-hye is pondering how to "unwaveringly" manage state affairs and address public concerns over a sprawling influence-peddling scandal involving her longtime confidante, a presidential official said Friday.

The remarks came amid the burgeoning allegations that Choi Soon-sil had used her decades-old ties to Park to meddle in state affairs, including some related to sensitive policy issues.

The allegations have sent her approval ratings dipping to the lowest point since her inauguration in February 2013. The scandal has also triggered calls for a sweeping personnel shakeup and prompted street rallies demanding her resignation.

"President Park is pondering in multiple directions over how to address public anxieties and how to unwaveringly run the country,"the official at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae told reporters, declining to be identified.

"Citizens appear to be in a state of shock, and (we) feel sorry about it," he added.

Touching on a series of the allegations surrounding Choi, the official said that Cheong Wa Dae itself is making its own efforts -- separate from the ongoing prosecutorial probe -- to verify the "basic facts."

Amid the ongoing probe by state prosecutors, calls have been growing for the prosecution to directly investigate the presidential office as well. Some have raised concerns that Cheong Wa Dae could take steps to destroy evidence.

"In light of the calls for the presidential office to cooperate more with the prosecutorial investigation, it is not like Cheong Wa Dae is doing nothing with regard to that," the official pointed out.

Amid escalating public furor over the Choi scandal, Park canceled her plan to host a luncheon with some members of the Presidential Committee for Unification Preparation -- a move analysts say indicates how much the scandal has been weighing down on the president.

On Tuesday, Park made a rare apology over an alleged leak of dozens of presidential speeches and documents to Choi, who has been at the center of a swirling corruption scandal.

Choi -- the daughter of Park's late mentor Choi Tae-min and ex-wife of Park's former secretary Chung Yun-hoi -- is alleged to have influenced Park's outfits, public speeches and the selection of presidential secretaries among other state affairs. Choi has never been a government official.

The latest scandal dealt a serious blow to the president who had garnered public support with her "principled" state management and emphasis on public trust.

The latest poll, conducted by local pollster Gallup Korea, put her support ratings at a record low of 17 percent, a decrease of 8 percentage points from a week earlier. (Yonhap)