The commanding general of South Korea's elite military academy has offered to retire to take responsibility for a recent sexual assault case on campus, Army officials said Thursday.

Army Lt. Gen. Park Nam-soo, head of the Korea Military Academy located in Seoul, said he will leave the military to hold himself accountable for the sexual assault allegation surrounding a senior male cadet, Army officials said. The military police have arrested the cadet, who is being accused of sexually assaulting a female junior cadet under the influence of alcohol during a campus festival last week.

The Army has expressed strong regret over the incident, the first of its kind since women began to be admitted to the Korea Military Academy in 1998. A special joint military team is thoroughly investigating the case, according to the Army.

An Army official said punishment for those implicated in the allegations as well as measures to prevent a recurrence in the future will be announced early next week.

Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin is currently attending the Asia Security Summit in Singapore, and military sources said he will likely review Park's retirement offer when he returns home on Saturday.

Drinking is prohibited at the military academy, but students have been allowed to drink on occasion during official events under the guidance of professors and senior officers since 2011.

The sexual assault case had been kept secret for about week by both the Army and the military academy until media broke the story on Tuesday. The public silence over the arrest sparked suspicions that the Army might have been trying to cover up the incident, but officials defended their decision, saying they wanted to protect the alleged victim. (Yonhap News)