On October 26, the leaders of the Saenuri Party officially suggested a reshuffle of the president's staff at Cheong Wa Dae including Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Woo Byung-woo (49), in an effort to resolve the Choi Soon-sil scandal. The pressure for Woo to resign has heightened. But even if Woo steps down, it is likely that the choice was made much too late for the Park Geun-hye government. Given that Woo was at a position where he could have been aware of the abnormal state administration in Cheong Wa Dae, experts believe that this may be connected to why Cheong Wa Dae made an effort to "guard” Woo Byung-woo.

Woo served as a secretary in the Office of the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs for over eight months since May 2014 and was appointed as the senior secretary for civil affairs in February 2015. Shortly after Woo entered Cheong Wa Dae, his tasks were linked to allegations of a "secret heavyweight." Woo joined Cheong Wa Dae's Office of the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs immediately after Cho Eung-cheon (currently a Minjoo Party of Korea lawmaker), former secretary for public office discipline resigned for leaking Cheong Wa Dae documents, known as the “Chung Yoon-hoi document.” Woo was probably aware of the details of the case at the time.

Cheong Wa Dae documents leaked from June 2013 until January 2014. Speculation had it that the documents were sent to Choi Soon-sil shortly after the president's inauguration until the first half of 2014, so a considerable portion of the time overlaps. If there had been an investigation on the period in question, the Office of the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs is likely to have been aware that Choi had received and reviewed some of the Cheong Wa Dae documents.

The fact that Cheong Wa Dae "defended" Woo until the very end, despite that he was subject for a prosecutors' investigation for personal corruption charges, also leaves room for speculation. President Park Geun-hye did not change her mind to retain Woo even after the ruling and opposition parties decided to report him for refusing to answer to the lawmakers at a parliamentary inspection.

If Woo had not been aware of the leaking of documents, this means he failed to properly tend to his tasks as senior secretary for civil affairs. If he ignored it, that makes him a main accomplice in Cheong Wa Dae in the Choi Soon-sil scandal.
Woo is not in a position that can be free from allegations associated with Choi. In an interpellation session last month, lawmaker Cho Eung-cheon argued, "There are allegations that Choi was involved in the appointment of Woo." The document that TV Chosun obtained from Choi's office the day before includes a report on the recommendations for the Cheong Wa Dae senior secretary for civil affairs.

Thus all eyes are on Woo's next move. Reportedly, the day before, at a meeting of senior secretaries chaired by Chief of Staff Lee Won-jong held after the president's apology to the nation, Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Kim Jae-won said, "Now is the time to resign," and argued that the presidential staff should all resign, but Woo argued saying, "If we resign now, that would be betraying the president." Thus discussions on a collective resignation were temporarily put off.

However, as public opinion continues to deteriorate, experts believe that the president will inevitably be forced to carry out a partial reshuffle of her staff including Woo. At a meeting of the party's lawmakers, Saenuri Party floor leader Chung Jin-suk said, "The people will not trust an investigation led by Woo." Before the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, Chief of Staff Lee referred to replacing Woo and said, "We will grapple with that." Woo was not present at the press room when the president apologized to the nation the day before.