Pantech CEO and vice chairman Park Byeong-yeop said Tuesday that he will resign from the top post by the end of this year, citing health issues.

“I’ll step down from Pantech management on Dec. 31,” he said in an urgent press conference at the company’s headquarters in northern Seoul.

“Over the past five years since the company came under a debt management program, I have worked without holidays and can no longer bear the chronic fatigue.”

Pantech and its affiliate have been under a debt rescheduling program since 2007 when it was hit by mounting losses and debt that exceeded 2 trillion won ($1.7 billion).

Park also said he would give up stock options of 10 percent offered by creditors as he is allowed to use the incentives only when he completes his tenure at the end of March.

But he added he could exert his appraisal rights of dissenting shareholders.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)