Park formally accepts PM's resignation over bribery scandal

President Park Geun-Hye has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Lee One-Koo who is embroiled in a corruption scandal.

Lee, who took office only about two months ago, expressed his regrets at his departure ceremony on Monday, a week after he tendered his resignation to the president. Park returned home earlier in the day after her 12-day South American trip.

The high-profile scandal, which is rocking the country, was triggered earlier this month when construction tycoon Sung Wan-Jong committed suicide and left a memo implicating several political heavyweights as accepting bribes, including Lee as well as Park's close confidants.

Park, in a statement read by her aide today (Tuesday), repeatedly urged thorough probes into the scandal as "the last chance" to wipe out corruption from the country.

Although Lee's successor has not been named yet, finance minister Choi Kyung-Hwan and education minister Hwang Woo-Yea are seen as likely candidates.