South Korea parliament speaker steps down over bribe scandal.

PressTV - South Korea's parliament Speaker Park Hee Tae has resigned over a cash-for-votes scandal that rocked the country’s ruling conservative party.

"I apologize to the people," Park said in a statement read by his spokesman in the National Assembly in the capital, Seoul, on Tuesday.

"Please lay all responsibility on me... I intend to quit my position," he said in the statement.

The 74-year-old was alleged to have bribed members of the ruling Saenuri Party, formerly the Grand National Party (GNP), before a leadership vote in 2008.

Park was elected party chairman that year and retained the post until 2009. He became speaker in 2010.

It is the first time a parliamentary speaker has quit over corruption allegations in South Korea.

The ruling party's interim leader Park Geun-Hye in a statement welcomed the resignation, which came after leading lawmakers urged the speaker to step down to minimize political damage to the party.

The scandal was exposed when a GNP lawmaker, Koh Seung-Duk, said in early January that he had received an envelope stuffed with three million won ($2,685) from Park's campaign office before the leadership vote.

Koh had then returned his own envelope to Park's office.

South Koreans are to elect a new parliament in April and a new president in December.