Korean President Park Geun-hye has accepted the abrupt resignation submitted by her senior secretary Kim Yong-han, who refused to testify before the parliament over a recent document leak scandal involving Cheong Wa Dae officials, the presidential office said Saturday.

Park's chief of staff, Kim Ki-choon, instructed him to attend a session of the National Assembly Steering Committee for questioning on the scandal, but he, instead, offered to step down from his post of senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Friday, defying the presidential chief of staff's instructions.

Presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said in a briefing, "Kim Yong-han, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, was removed from his position as of today as his resignation was accepted this morning."

"His resignation was submitted yesterday, and President Park sanctioned the documents related to his resignation presented by Kim Ki-choon, presidential chief of staff," said Min.

The junior secretary has been suspected of intervening in the prosecution's probe into allegations sparked by the leak of a presidential document in late November that revealed a power struggle between Park's former aide Chung Yoon-hoi and her younger brother Ji-man.

On Monday, the prosecution concluded in its interim findings that the allegations were groundless.(Yonhap)