Woori Financial Group said Sunday that its chairman Lee Pal-seung expressed his willingness to resign before the end of his term.

Lee, regarded as a close confidant of former President Lee Myung-bak, has been under pressure to step down from his high-profile post under the new government.

In a statement, the outgoing chairman said he hopes that “privatization of Woori Financial would be achieved as soon as possible for the development of the nation’s financial industry.”

Lee also said he did his best at Woori Bank and Woori Financial Group over the past 45 years.

The second-term of Lee, who first took office as the Woori Financial chief in June 2008, was scheduled to expire in March 2014.

His decision comes two weeks after Kang Man-soo, another close confidant of former President Lee, quit as chairman of the state-run KDB Financial Group.

Other figures in the financial sector including KB Financial Group chairman Euh Yoon-dae have also been under pressure to resign.

Meanwhile, Financial Services Commission chairman Shin Je-yoon pledged to revamp the governance structure of major financial groups during his inaugural speech in March.

Shin has said that financial firms should not gloss over the fact that taxpayers’ money totaling 168 trillion won ($154 billion) bailed out the financial industry when it was hit by the 1997 financial crisis.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)