SOUTH Korea's prime minister has offered to resign amid a bribery scandal about two months after he took up the country's number two post.
IT'S the latest political crisis to hit President Park Geun-hye.
Prime minister Lee Wan Koo has been at the centre of a corruption scandal that flared after a businessman killed himself earlier this month, leaving a memo listing the names of high-profile figures he claimed to have bribed.
Businessman Sung Wan-jong told a local daily before his death that he gave 30 million won ($A35,460) to Lee in 2013.
Lee has denied the allegation but there have been growing calls for him to resign, with South Korea's media continuously reporting alleged evidence that indicates his ties with Sung.
Lee's office says he has conveyed his resignation offer to President Park Geun-hye, who is in Peru as part of a four-nation overseas trip.
Chun Hye-ran, a presidential spokeswoman in Seoul, has confirmed Lee's offer to quit but says she has not been informed whether Park will accept it.
The latest scandal comes as Park struggles to deal with criticism over her government's handling of last year's ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people.
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