Tens of thousands demonstrated in cities across South Korea on Saturday, demanding President Park Geun-hye step down from office. Revelations [that] an unelected, unappointed confidant was receiving advance copies and altering dozens of confidential policy speeches ... have led to charges that the friend is a secret puppet master" and the real power behind "the throne." This scandal involves not only tens of millions of dollars and charges of influence-peddling, but of spiritual guides from a "Shamanistic prophet." The old friend of the president's, Choi Soon-sil ... is the daughter of a man the president considered her mentor, Choi Tae-min. He claimed to be a pastor from a tiny pseudo-Christian sect. His "church" is described by Korean media as more of a "Shamanistic cult." The New York Times explains further: "Mr. Choi was the founder of an obscure sect called the Church of Eternal Life. He befriended Ms. Park, 40 years his junior, soon after her mother was assassinated in 1974. Mr. Choi initially approached Ms. Park by telling her that her mother had appeared in his dreams, asking him to help her. He became a mentor to Ms. Park." The public's beliefs about how much control the Choi family enjoyed over the president, and how much they privately benefited as a result, is putting the president's remaining year in office in serious jeopardy. For her part, Park hasn't addressed the matter since her 90-second apology early in the week. But she did call for the en masse resignations of her senior staff late Friday night.