Roundup: S.Korean president accepts dialogue offer from opposition party chief after mass rally

South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday accepted a bilateral dialogue offer from chief of the main opposition Minjoo Party following the biggest mass rally in three decades over a scandal involving Park's longtime confidante.

Presidential spokesman Jung Youn-kuk told reporters that President Park accepted dialogue overtures made earlier in the day by Minjoo Party Chairwoman Choo Mi-ae to hold bilateral talks on Tuesday.

The overtures came after over 1 million South Koreans took to the streets in capital Seoul on Saturday night to demand Park's resignation. It was the largest demonstration since 1987 when some 1 million people protested against the military dictatorship.

The opposition leader allegedly proposed emergency talks with the scandal-hit president to get over the biggest political crisis since Park took office in February 2013.

Choo told a supreme council meeting that she felt a grave responsibility as the main opposition party head to deliver the public sentiment to the president, indicating her calls for Park's resignation to be delivered during the bilateral dialogue.

The chairwoman said Sunday that President Park should solve the problem caused by herself, noting that unless the president does it, the last thing left to do is to give back the sovereign power given by people.

Park has been mired in the scandal involving her decades-long confidante Choi Soon-sil, who is suspected of intervening in state affairs from the shadows and peddling undue influence for personal gains.

The scandal-plagued president made public apologies twice, but public anger failed to be appeased and caused the third weekly protest over the weekend. Smaller rallies are held in major cities nationwide every night.

The presidential Blue House had suggested talks with three chiefs of the ruling Saenuri Party, the Minjoo Party and the minor opposition People's Party, but Choo initially refused the proposal.

People's Party Floor Leader Park Jie-won raised doubts about what Choo intends to with the dialogue proposal, expressing his negative opinion as the bilateral talks can break cooperation among three main opposition parties.

Shim Sang-jung, chairwoman of another minor Justice Party, told reporters that people already sent an ultimatum for the president's resignation, saying she opposes the bilateral talks that would confuse people and break cooperation among opposition parties.

People's Party and Justice Party have called for the embattled president to immediately step down or be impeached to form a coalition cabinet by a parliament-appointed prime minister and hold a presidential election early.

Meanwhile, calls for Park's resignation came even from the governing party. A majority of Saenuri lawmakers, including non-President Park faction members, demand the president distance herself from all state affairs, including diplomacy and defense as well as domestic affairs.

About 90 Saenuri members of the non-Park faction held a separate gathering on Sunday, deciding to disband their party. They issued a statement to declare "Saenuri Party already ended its days."

Pro-President Park faction, including party chairman Lee Jung-hyun, argued for the president's governance of diplomacy and defense. Lee said he will maintain his chairmanship until a new leadership is selected in mid-January. Enditem