The company suffered an operating loss of 49.5 billion won ($46 million) in the April-June period of this year.
As part of efforts for survival, Pantech is encouraging about 800 employees, or a fourth of its workforce, to take a voluntary six-month leave of absence.
Park, 51, founded a small mobile venture firm in 1991 and made it South Korea's third-largest mobile phone manufacturer.
Sources close to Pantech said that Park offered to step down, citing his poor health conditions as well as the company's poor sales performance.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com