The latest developments of the Choi Soon-sil scandal show that the political crisis will not end any time soon.

What is clear is that President Park Geun-hye will not give in to demands that she step down voluntarily. What is also obvious is that it will not be easy for the divided opposition to bring her down from her post.

With Park turning defiant and politicians not giving clear-cut answers, anti-Park protesters filled the streets of Seoul and other major cities across the country for the fourth consecutive weekend Saturday.

What separated Saturday from the previous weekends was that a group of Park supporters came forward to hold their own rally in support of the beleaguered president.    

The Park supporters who gathered at Seoul Station were greatly outnumbered by the anti-Park protesters, but the rally itself symbolized a turn of events -- Park and her supporters, after adopting a defensive approach for weeks, have shifted to a counteroffensive stance.

Park’s aides at Cheong Wa Dae set the stage for what they hoped would be a turnaround, saying early last week that the president cannot resign or take a backseat in running the government because doing so does not comply with the Constitution.

Furthermore, Park’s defense attorney has publicly challenged the state prosecution’s plan to question the president. Yoo Yeong-ha insisted that more time was needed to prepare for the interview and that even a delayed session should in principle be done through written questions.

This effectively thwarted the state prosecution’s plan to question Park before indicting Sunday the three key figures in the scandal: Choi and former Cheong Wa Dae aides An Chong-bum and Jeong Ho-seong.

Meanwhile, Park loyalists in the ruling party have begun raising their voices, arguing that the media and the opposition are waging a “witch hunt” while the president’s wrongdoings have yet to be verified. 

Park has also stopped keeping a low profile by giving instructions to the justice minister to thoroughly investigate a real estate development scandal in Busan. She faced immediate backlash from the opposition who argued that a president who faces pending questioning by state prosecution is not qualified to give instructions.

On Friday, Park showed up in public to present letters of appointment and credentials to newly appointed senior administration officials, including the new Cheong Wa Dae Chief of Staff Han Kwang-ok, and diplomats. Park smiled broadly while having her picture taken with each of the appointees -- a stark contrast to her gloomy appearance when offering public apologies on the scandal.

There should not be a vacuum in running the government, but it is wrong for her to behave as if nothing has happened, especially since the scandal stemmed from Park letting her civilian friend interfere with state affairs and allowing her to peddle influence for personal gains.

State prosecutors indicted Choi, An and Jeong on Sunday and revealed that they have enough evidence and testimonies to suspect that Park “conspired” with the three individuals who among other things were charged with pressuring conglomerates to donate funds to two nonprofit foundations controlled by Choi and sending Choi presidential speech texts and classified Cheong Wa Dae documents.

There are many more allegations -- some of which have already been verified -- such as the one about the unauthorized supply of vitamin injections to the president and the one about the illegal enrollment of Choi’s daughter into a top women’s university.

In total disregard of public wrath over the scandal, ruling party leader Lee Jung-hyun said that public sentiment was bound to change. Another Park loyalist even said that “candlelight remains candlelight and wind can blow it out easily,” referring to the candlelight vigils demanding Park’s resignation over the past four weekends.

Despite such claims, the latest opinion polls found that more than 88 percent of Koreans believe Park should step down from her post. It remains to be seen whether the president’s next step will continue to fan the flames of public anger.