South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service chief steps down amid controversy

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service chief resigned after just 15 days on the job after the election watchdog concluded he had breached the law while serving in office as a lawmaker, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced on Monday.

Kim Ki-sik faced a series of allegations that he had misused political funds when he made a donation to a political organisation he led in his final five months in office, sparking public criticism that he rushed to spend the money before his term ended.

Kim had donated 50 million won ($46,000) to a liberal political think-tank, The Better Future, in May 2016 as his term as a lawmaker was drawing to a close, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

Kim was not immediately available for comment.

As allegations against Kim snowballed last week, the presidential Blue House pledged to sack him if he was found to have committed any illegal activity as a lawmaker, requesting the National Election Commission to review his spending.

After the election commission announced late on Monday that it found Kim's spending while in office unlawful, he offered his resignation, the FSS said.

A spokesman for the president's office, Yoon Young-chan, told reporters that President Moon Jae-in would accept Kim's resignation, Yonhap reported.

($1 = 1,073.1900 won)

(Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Editing by Robert Birsel)