Impeached President Park Geun-hye's close friend who was charged with meddling in state affairs had been illegitimately involved in designing South Korea's official development assistance program, a probe result showed Tuesday.

"(The presidential office) Cheong Wa Dae appears to have mobilized the foreign ministry and other ministries to execute (an ODA) project pre-designed by the foundation Mir," Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told reporters, referring to the result of a recent probe into the matter.

The probe looked into allegations that the private foundation controlled by Choi Soon-sil, the imprisoned confidante of Park, held sway over the foreign ministry's ODA program, Korea Aid.

It was the Park administration's signature ODA program designed to carry health care supplies, food and cultural aid to needy countries. The ODA program has been operating in a few African countries, including Kenya.

Billions of won of state money has been allotted to the program, which has drawn public criticism over its ineffectiveness.

"I extend my apology to the public as a foreign minister for the role the foreign ministry has played in pursuing the project," Kang said.

Currently, the foreign ministry is reviewing the potential punishment of its staff for leading the ODA program, another foreign ministry official said.

Lee Mi-kyung, the new president of the Korea International Cooperation Agency, the ODA arm of the foreign ministry, has also said the Korea Aid program will be subject to revamping. (Yonhap)