The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae maintained an awkward silence Tuesday, following an exclusive report that Choi Soon-sil, the disputed confidante to President Park Geun-hye, may have had direct access to confidential documents including presidential speeches.

The report, broadcast by cable TV network JTBC on Monday night, immediately overshadowed a proposed constitutional revision -- an unheralded state affairs agenda item brought forward by the president earlier in the morning.

It also caught the Blue House off guard, as the presidential house has so far insisted that rumors of Choi’s influence-rigging over the state leader were “groundless.”

Hundreds of confidential files, many of them presidential speeches, were discovered in an abandoned personal computer used by Choi, daughter of Choi Tae-min, the late pastor known to be the president’s mentor, according to JTBC.

Among the files was Park’s landmark address delivered in the former East German city of Dresden in March 2013 in which she described the future of the Korean Peninsula built on the unity of the South’s capital and technology with the North’s natural resources and manpower.

The speech, which drew attention from the international community for its vision on regional future, took place on March 28, at around 6:40 p.m. But Choi’s computer record showed she accessed the file the previous day, when the corresponding contents should have not been disclosed.

So was the case for all 44 presidential speeches left in the abandoned computer, some of them containing correction marks in red font, changes which later were reflected in the president’s actual addresses.

Also, the fact that all these secret files were neglected in an unguarded personal computer raised suspicions of further leaks or the possibility of hacking.

The existence of these documents backed the earlier testimony by one of Choi’s close aides who claimed that “Choi enjoyed correcting the president’s speeches,” an allegation which was then refuted by Chief of Staff Lee Won-jong as something unthinkable.

But faced by JTBC‘s revealing report, the Blue House refrained from commenting.

“We are currently working on finding out the details,” said presidential spokesperson Jung Youn-kuk repeatedly, in answer to reporters’ questions.

The spokesman’s tentative response was clearly distinguishable from his outspoken dismissal of rumors concerning Choi.

“We will not respond to every single allegations raised during the parliamentary state audit,” Jung had said several times over the past few weeks, offering no explanation on the alleged connection between the president and her disputed aide.

The presidential office’s dubious silence has set political circles into protest, including the ruling conservative Saenuri Party.

“Constitutional revision, which (Park) refused to even discuss, was suddenly disguised as a patriotic determination,” said Rep. Choo Mi-ae, chairperson of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea.

“The constitutional amendment was used as a tool to cover the Choi Soon-sil corruption scandal and to prolong the life of this administration which has already lost the people’s support.”

The Minjoo Party chief thus blasted the president’s proposal to amend the nation’s Constitution, a surprise agendum brought up during Park’s parliamentary speech on the previous day.

The president‘s proposal, though it raised suspicions she was trying to divert the public’s attention away from the persisting corruption charges of her aides, gained approval to a certain extent. The key point was to alter the current five-year, single-term presidency which, according to the president and a number of lawmakers, no longer fits the political reality nowadays.

But the issue has quickly dwindled as the JTBC report pinned the spotlight on the Park-Choi connection, undermining the leverage of the president‘s message.

“It is now President Park who should be subject to (prosecutorial) investigation,” the party’s floor leader Rep. Woo Sang-ho said.

“Incumbent president or not, (Park) should speak out the truth on this matter which is sending shock waves throughout our nation.”

Rep. Park Jie-won of the runner-up opposition People’s Party sarcastically claimed the president would not be able to submit a constitutional revision bill now that the de facto power Choi has fled.

And this time, the president’s home party did not take to her defense, considering the given scandal a roadblock ahead of next year’s presidential election.

“I am utterly ashamed of the recent series of news reports, which show that top confidential presidential documents were leaked en masse,” said Saenuri Party floor leader Rep. Chung Jin-suk in a party meeting.

“Should the reports be true, President Park should personally take the stand and offer her explanation.”

Rep. Ha Tae-keung, a non-mainstream member of the party, suggested that discussions for constitutional revision should be held off.

“We should realize that this major corruption scandal may ultimately destroy the people‘s trust, not only for the current administration but for our party as well.”

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)