Prosecutor General Han Sang-dae on Thursday expressed his intention to resign amid internal strife at the law enforcement authority following sex and bribery scandals.

Han will submit his resignation Friday to President Lee Myung-bak after apologizing to the public and announcing a set of measures aimed at curbing corruption and abuse of power in the prosecution, his spokesperson said.

The prosecutor general had a meeting with a group of senior prosecutors earlier in the morning at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, in which they demanded his departure, one source at the SPO said.

Han had resisted mounting calls from outside of his organization to take responsibility for recent scandals involving law enforcement officials, but it was his own lieutenants who pushed him out.

“We decided to ask the prosecutor general to leave since we think he cannot fulfill his duties anymore,” said Deputy Prosecutor-General Chae Dong-wook who led managerial-level prosecutors at the SPO to the meeting with Han.

The prosecutor community, known for its strong hierarchy, was thrown into turmoil late Wednesday, following the launch of an internal inspection by the SPO of Choi Jae-kyung, the head of the SPO’s central investigation unit, in relation to an ongoing corruption scandal.

Choi allegedly sent a mobile text message to Kim Kwang-jun, a senior prosecutor at the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office who has been indicted on bribery and influence-peddling charges, advising him on how to handle the accusations against him.

The arrested Kim is accused of receiving 900 million won ($826,000) from Cho Hee-pal, the mastermind of Korea’s biggest-ever pyramid scheme, and Eugene Group, a mid-sized conglomerate, in exchange for favors.

Choi strongly protested the inspection, claiming that it was Han’s personal vendetta against him for calling for responsible action from the chief to end a crisis engulfing the prosecution.

The latest strife at the prosecution was sparked by two scandals, including Kim’s case.

In another of the scandals, a trainee prosecutor at Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office is accused of having sexual relations with a female suspect whom he was interrogating.

A SPO team, which is leading the probe into the sex scandal, sought an arrest warrant for 30-year old prosecutor Jeon Jae-mong on a charge of receiving bribes, but the court rejected the request, questioning the appropriateness of the bribery charge applied.

Yet, the team asked the court again to issue an arrest warrant for Jeon on the same charge. A court decision was expected for late Thursday.

Shortly after the first scandal involving Kim broke out, Han apologized to the public, promising measures to reform the prosecution.

The measures, to be unveiled Friday, reportedly include a plan to abolish the central investigation unit under the SPO and establish an alternative body to handle large-scale corruption cases. The CIU, which has led high-profile investigations involving politicians and conglomerates, has been criticized for many years as being swayed by political power.

“There is nothing he can do now except step down from his post. The public wants him to be responsible for the recent crises,” Seok Dong-hyun, the former chief of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office, who resigned in the wake of the sex scandal, said in an internet post.

Political parties and presidential candidates also called for reform of the prosecution.

Ahn Dae-hee, a former prosecutor who now chairs the political reform committee of the ruling Saenuri Party, said: “The public is disappointed in the tug of war at the prosecution. The reform of the authority will be the first priority of the next government (if our candidate Park Geun-hye is elected as president).”

Rep. Woo Sang-ho, a spokesperson for Moon Jae-in, the presidential candidate of the main opposition Democratic United Party, said: “The Moon Jae-in camp requests an en masse resignation of General Prosecutor Han, Justice Minister Kwon Jae-jin, and Choi, the head of the CIU.”

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)