The 61-year-old has been in charge of the organisation since 2010 told regional swimming Federations that he would be standing down, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

Lee, South Korea's Chef de Mission at the 2012 Olympics in London, is claimed to have targeted having his replacement in place ahead of the second round of national selection qualification for Rio 2016, due to begin on March 25.

The vice-president at the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) has been leading their merger with the Korea Council of Sport for All, which has been aimed at creating one body to administer over sport at both an elite and at a grassroots level.

His possible resignation from the KSF, follows ongoing investigations into the alleged embezzlement of Government funding by executives of national federations board.

It followed a raid on KSF headquarters in Seoul on February 17, part of an attempt to investigate corruption allegations within the organisation.

The KSF has been suspected of forging various documents, as well as taking funds that were meant to be awarded to athletes to help with their training expenses.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism had announced that funding to the KSF had been halted earlier that month.

Last month, a Board member identified by his surname Chung, was arrested earlier in February.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office have now revealed that he has been accused of receiving 230 million won (£135,000/$192,000/€177,000) in bribes between February 2004 and April 2015.

He is claimed to have received the funds from another board member, with the surname Park, who has also been indicted as part of the case.

The money is believed to have been given to Chung in order to influence selections to the national swimming team, helping members of a private swimming club, run by another Board member.

Chung was also accused of taking money from various coaches in order to favour their athletes during the selection process.

According to Yonhap, Chung has been accused of having received 90 million won (£53,000/$75,000/€69,000) from former national swimming coach Noh Min-sang between January 2009 and December 2010.

As the statute of limitations has ended, Noh has not been included in the case.

The coach is most commonly known for his work with Park Tae-hwan, winner of the 400 metres freestyle gold medal at Beijing 2008.

He recently completed an 18-month ban imposed in 2014 after failing a drug test at that year's Asian Games in Incheon.

Yesterday it was revealed that another KSF official and two coaches had been indicted in the investigation, which is looking into the alleged embezzlement of Government funding.

Around 3.56 billion won (£2.1 million/$2.9 million/€2.6 million) has been believed to have been stolen by the officials over the past eight years.