Reformers see SK Global as a test case

A spokesman for SK Group, the stricken trading firm's parent company, said Son Kil-seung had stepped down "to open the way for a fresh start with new management."

SK shareholders' will pick a successor at a meeting on 9 September.

Mr Son will keep his other jobs in the SK commercial empire, staying on as chief executive of South Korea's largest mobile phone firm SK Telekom, and as a board member at SK Corp.

Accounting fraud

SK Global admitted in March it had found a $1.2bn (�752m) hole in its accounts, caused by inflating earnings to hide losses.

Since then, SK has been at the centre of a row between foreign investors and domestic creditors.

The affair has also been closely watched by reformers wishing to see the country's huge conglomerates - or chaebols - made more accountable.

SK Global's domestic creditors opted to put the firm into court receivership last month after they failed to agree on the shape of a debt restructuring deal with foreign creditors.

However, press reports say the two sides are close to an agreement under which the foreign lenders would reportedly get just under half of what they are owed.

SK Global's foreign creditors include the banks Citigroup, Standard Chartered and HSBC.

SK Global's total debt stood at 9.93 trillion won ($8.4bn) at the end of June, according to Hana Bank, its biggest domestic creditor.