Scandal-hit S Korean President picks new chief of staff

South Korea’s embattled President Park Geun-Hye on Thursday picked a new chief of staff as part of a reshuffle of top aides aimed at quashing public discontent over a spiralling political scandal.

Han Gwang-Ok, a former aide to late President Kim Dae-Jung, was named chief of staff, an appointment the presidential Blue House said would help get the rattled administration back on track.

The 74-year-old politician, a long serving liberal who switched sides and joined Park’s administration in 2013, has dedicated his life to “democracy and national reconciliation”. “He is well suited to assist the president from the citizens’ perspective,” presidential spokesman Jung Youn-Kuk said.