The ousted KB Financial Group chairman Lim Young-rok quit as a registered member of the corporate board on Sunday, ending a 14-month tenure marred by an internal power struggle and management lapses.

“I hope to let everything go,” Lim said in a statement.

“I will take responsibility for everything that has happened as a result of my shortcomings and spend time engaging in self-reflection.”

Lim’s departure came after KB Financial announced last Friday that it would name a new chairman next month.

The 59-year-old chief of the nation’s second-biggest banking group also said he would drop a lawsuit against the Financial Services Commission, which had ordered him to serve a three-month suspension. Lim had claimed that he did nothing wrong and vowed to clear his name and save the reputation of the group through a legal battle.

The frustration of financial authorities and KB insiders over Lim’s defiance had been growing, as the defiant KB chairman refused to step down despite the board and the watchdog’s order.

On Sept. 18, Lim was ousted by KB’s board members for a series of scandals involving an apparent internal power struggle with former Kookmin Bank CEO Lee Kun-ho, the group’s No. 2 man, and for poor risk management.

Lim and three KB executives are currently suspected of illegal practices related to changing the computing system of the group’s flagship unit, Kookmin Bank.

The prosecution suspects that Lim pushed to change the bank’s main computing system supplier from IBM to Unix, which would have cost between 200 billion won and 300 billion won ($193 million to $287 million), possibly due to an illicit deal with a Unix operator.

KB Financial Group will review about 100 candidates for the newly vacated post and select the final candidate before holding a shareholders’ meeting on Nov. 21.

By Suk Gee-hyun and news reports
(monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)