Creditors of ailing STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. have called for the head of the parent group to resign over his mismanagement, the main creditor said Tuesday.

   Main creditor Korea Development Bank said in a statement that creditors have recently urged STX Group chairman Kang Duk-soo to step down, as a qualified new outside figure is needed to help the shipbuilder navigate its current financial difficulty.

   Kang also serves as the chairman of STX Offshore & Shipbuilding. Park Dong-hyuk, a vice president at rival Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering is tapped as the new head for the troubled shipbuilder, according to a creditor bank official.

   STX Group, the 13th biggest conglomerate, has seen its major affiliates struggling from liquidity shortages and mounting debt due to the downturn in the shipbuilding and shipping sectors.

   In April, STX Offshore & Shipbuilding requested the creditors supply liquidity in exchange for its voluntary debt-relief and restructuring efforts.

   At that time, Kang gave consent to the creditors that he would take responsibility for the mismanagement so that he would not raise any objection to creditors' moves to reshape the management, according to KDB.

   The creditors plan to provide fresh liquidity worth about 2.15 trillion won ($1.96 billion), leading the total volume of liquidity injection to reach nearly 3 trillion won. A debt-to-equity swap worth 700 billion won and capital reduction are also planned.

   KDB said that a board meeting to discuss a new head will be held on Sept. 9 and an interim shareholders' meeting is slated for Sept. 27.

   But STX Group fiercely expressed its discomfort against the creditors' move, saying that the creditors' push to select a new chairman is feared to further complicate the normalization of the company's operation. (Yonhap News)