Tax chief quits over bribery scandal

The president of the Republic of Korea (ROK) accepted the resignation of the country's tax chief yesterday, a day after he was arrested for allegedly accepting bribes.

Jeon Goon-pyo, head of the National Tax Service, was arrested on Tuesday - becoming the first incumbent tax chief to be arrested since the agency was established in 1966 - on charges that he received 60 million won ($66,360) from a regional tax chief in Busan between August 2006 and January this year.

Jeon, who has denied the allegations, offered to resign shortly before he was arrested and President Roh Moo-hyun accepted his resignation Wednesday morning, presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said.