Former acting president and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said goodbye at the government complex in Seoul on Thursday after barely two years in the post. Hwang thanked Cabinet members and government officials for their support.
President Moon Jae-in asked Hwang a day earlier to stay until the new administrations gets set up, but he had to accept his resignation as Hwang was determined to quit.
Hwang, who was seen as loyal to ex-President Park Geun-hye, became Korea's 44th prime minister in June 2015 after a rather desultory search for the right candidate. He became the nation's first ever acting president in December last year, when the National Assembly impeached Park.
Prosecutor-General Kim Soo-nam also resigned on Thursday. Kim in a statement said he stepped down because he had fulfilled his duty to investigating the corruption scandal that brought Park down but admitted it was painful to investigate the woman who had appointed him in the first place.
He said he considered quitting after Park was arrested in March but decided to carry on with his duties until the presidential election on May 9.
