Many citizens might initially have thought the core of the Park Geun-hye scandal mostly lay in the irregularities of her civilian confidante Choi Soon-sil and the president, when it surfaced in late October.

Among presidential aides, the public might have focused only on Choi’s three major confidantes -- Ahn Bong-keun, Jung Ho-seong and Lee Jae-mahn -- identifying them as individuals who helped Choi meddle in state affairs.

But it has been two months since the scandal first began to rock the nation and many people now recognize Kim Ki-choon and Woo Byung-woo as key conspirators in the scandal, with fresh allegations surrounding them continuing to emerge.

Kim and Woo had worked at Cheong Wa Dae as the chief of staff and senior secretary for civil affairs, respectively.

The allegations against them include that Kim abused his authority with regards to personnel affairs and Woo neglected his duty by allowing Choi to meddle in government affairs.

The two are also suspected of having engaged in improper practices related to the Sewol ferry sinking on April 16, 2014, which resulted in 304 dead or missing. They were Cheong Wa Dae officials at the time.

Kim has appeared at a National Assembly hearing as a witness for the Park scandal. Woo -- after being absent from past hearings without giving any reason -- has expressed his willingness to respond to lawmakers’ calls for one, slated for this Thursday.

During a hearing earlier this month, Kim made a slip of the tongue through remarks that suggested his relations with Choi for several years at least though he reiterated that he didn’t know nor meet with her before.

Woo’s expected appearance on TV is drawing wide attention of the public. However, given the nonbinding characteristic of parliamentary hearings, calls are growing over the urgency of taking Kim and Woo into custody to undergo intensive investigation.

The task is up to the independent counsel -- the people demand the special investigative team seek arrest warrants for them out of worry about evidence being destroyed.

The public is closely watching whether the counsel -- which comprises dozens of prosecutors -- will choose to ask the court to issue warrants for Kim (formerly prosecutor general and justice minister) and Woo (formerly a senior prosecutor).

The Park administration had offered them the opportunity to work at Cheong Wa Dae.

A recent allegation against Woo raised by a Korean newspaper has ignited fury among citizens.

Citing some sources at the independent counsel, the media outlet reported that Woo had tried to hamper an investigation into the Korea Coast Guard regarding the Sewol ferry disaster.

In June 2014, two months after the disaster, Woo reportedly sought to block investigators from raiding significant parts of the Korea Coast Guard’s headquarters -- in an attempt to prevent them from accessing April 16 telecommunication records between the maritime police and Cheong Wa Dae.

There are also rumors that Woo was promoted to senior presidential secretary in 2015 due to his alleged pressure on the prosecution over the ferry accident while he was serving as an ordinary aide.

Another allegation raised by a lawmaker is that Woo could enter the presidential office in May 2014 on the back of his mother-in-law’s relations with Choi. Then-Chief of Staff Kim recently told lawmakers that he had known nothing about the allegation.

While Kim was a state prosecutor, he reportedly played a large part in drawing up the 1972 Yusin Constitution, which allowed the “indefinite presidential term” of Park Chung-hee, the late father of suspended President Park Geun-hye. During the incumbent administration, Kim worked as chief of staff from August 2013 to February 2015.

Concerning the Sewol sinking, Kim is suspected of giving improper instructions to presidential secretaries, which was seen on memos written by late senior presidential secretary Kim Young-han, who was the predecessor of Woo.

The independent counsel started its official investigation Wednesday after completing its preparation for three weeks.

To reveal feasible connections between Kim-Woo and Choi over the influence-peddling, the two should be subject to probe under custody like the indicted Choi.