Naver's Chief Operating Officer(COO) Choi In-hyuk has tendered his resignation to take responsibility for the apparent suicide of an employee at the nation’s leading Internet portal operator after the staff member allegedly suffered from workplace harassment.

Naver said on Friday that its board of directors accepted Choi's resignation after he expressed his intent to step down from his post earlier in the day. The 50-year-old executive is a founding member of the portal service provider and is regarded as a close aide to Naver founder and Global Investment Officer(GIO) Lee Hae-jin. Choi will retain his roles at other subsidiaries, including that of CEO of Naver Financial. 

His resignation as COO comes a month after a Naver employee in his 40s committed suicide due to what the company’s labor union attributes to excessive work assignments and bullying by his bosses. 

Naver admitted some of the charges in announcing the result of its own investigation into the death on Friday, saying there was workplace harassment by some senior officials. 

The company said it confirmed that some of its officials had not fulfilled their duty as leaders in fostering a healthy work environment, adding that the company had taken disciplinary action against those responsible or deemed negligent in their duties.