▲ This file photo shows Song Ok-rial, who announced his decision to resign as nominee to lead the Fair Trade Commission. (Yonhap)

FTC chief nominee-resignation

FTC chief nominee to step down amid sexual harassment allegations

SEOUL, July 10 (Yonhap) -- The nominee to lead South Korea's antitrust regulatory body publicly expressed his intent Sunday on stepping down amid unrelenting controversies over allegations that he sexually harassed students as a university professor nearly a decade ago.

"I am not sure if I will be able to the meet the people's expectations by assuming the big public post," Song Ok-rial, President Yoon Suk-yeol's pick for the chief of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), stated. He said he would focus on a teaching job.

Yoon's office immediately said it "respects" Song's decision.

The presidential office announced the nomination of the commercial law professor at Seoul National University last Monday.

A news report was released soon after the nomination that he made derogatory remarks to some students about their physical appearances while drunk during a dinner meeting in 2014.

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