Seoul , South Korea ( CNN ) -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye apologized Monday for a damaging scandal involving a spokesman she fired last week over allegations of sexual misconduct in the United States . The former aide , Yoon Chang-jung , is accused of making inappropriate advances toward a female student who was hired as a guide while Yoon was in Washington for Park 's first official visit to the United States last week . `` I am very sorry that an unsavory incident , which a public official should never be involved in , happened near the end of my visit to the U.S. and hugely disappointed the people , '' Park said Monday at a meeting with senior officials . It was the first time she has commented publicly on the matter . Her office has n't disclosed details of what Yoon , 56 , is alleged to have done , and Washington police have said only that they are investigating a report of a sexual abuse misdemeanor without specifically mentioning Yoon by name . But South Korean news media have widely reported that Yoon is accused of grabbing the buttocks of the young woman , who has not been identified , after drinking with her . Allegations denied . On Saturday , Yoon denied the allegations circulating about him , saying he had patted the woman on the waist once and encouraged her to `` live life to the full in the States and be successful . '' `` I swear I did not have any intention of sexually harassing her , and I did not molest her , '' Yoon said during a news conference in a Seoul restaurant . `` Now , I deeply regret not properly understanding the American culture , and I offer my sincere word of consolation to the guide , '' he said . Yoon also denied allegations in the South Korean press that he had called the woman to his room the morning after the incident and answered the door undressed . He said he had only answered the door in his underwear because he believed it was somebody with an urgent message for him . `` I never imagined my guide would have come , '' he said . He apologized to Park , South Korea 's first female president , for the `` trouble '' he had caused . State visit overshadowed . The scandal has cast a pall over Park 's five-day visit to the United States , her first high-profile trip since her inauguration in February . Before news emerged of Yoon 's dismissal and the allegations against him , the visit had generally been considered a success , with Park and President Barack Obama reaffirming the U.S.-South Korean alliance in the face of recent threats from North Korea . Yoon is alleged to have made the inappropriate advances toward the woman on Tuesday night , hours after Park held talks with Obama . He said his boss , chief presidential press secretary Lee Nam-ki , told him to leave Washington quickly and return to South Korea as soon as the allegations of misconduct began to surface . Yoon said he told Lee he had done nothing wrong and wanted to stay and explain the situation . But he said he followed his supervisor 's order and gone to the airport . Lee made a statement to the media on Thursday in Los Angeles ( Friday morning in South Korea ) , saying Yoon had been dismissed after he had `` damaged the dignity of the country . '' Media uproar . By the time Park stepped off the plane that brought her back to South Korea on Friday evening , a media firestorm was raging over the scandal , and opposition parties were demanding a public apology . After earlier apologies by senior members of her staff , Park addressed the matter herself on Monday . She apologized for the `` shock '' that she said the student and her parents must have experienced . South Korea `` will take whatever measures are necessary and will actively cooperate with the U.S. investigation , '' Park said . Yoon , a former journalist and political columnist , served as spokesman for Park 's transition team before his appointment , according to the semiofficial South Korean news agency Yonhap . Critics had said at the time he was unsuitable for the job as spokesman , claiming his columns were sensational and biased , Yonhap reported . Journalist Soobin Park reported from Seoul , South Korea . CNN 's Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong .
President Park Ji - hye said she is sorry about an ` ` ' incident '' involving an aide . The spokesman was fired last year amid allegations of sexual misconduct . He denies that he molested a female student in Washington . The scandal has overshadowed Park 's first official visit to the United States .