SEOUL (AFP) - The birthplace of the father of South Korea's scandal-hit President Park Geun Hye was damaged in an arson attack on Thursday (Dec 1), police said, with the suspect allegedly calling on the leader to quit.

Park is under huge pressure to resign over an influence-peddling scandal that has drawn more than a million people onto the streets in protest and sent her approval ratings to record lows.

The suspected arson attack damaged the memorial hall of the house where former military dictator Park Chung Hee was born in the southern city of Gumi, police said.

A 48-year-old man was arrested nearby for suspected arson.

"The president should have resigned or killed herself. I set the fire because she did neither," the suspect was quoted as saying by the police, according to Yonhap news agency.

Police were investigating whether he had written a message in the visitors' book Thursday which read "Kill yourself, Park Geun Hye. Stop soiling your father's name", Yonhap added.

Park said this week she would let parliament decide her fate following accusations that she colluded with Choi Soon Sil - a secretive confidante dubbed "Korea's Rasputin" - to coerce firms to "donate" tens of millions of dollars to foundations which were used for Choi's personal gain.

Park has been named a suspect in the investigation, making her the first sitting president to be subject to a criminal probe while in office.

Her late father, Park Chung Hee, is credited with pulling the war-ravaged South out of poverty during his iron-fisted rule from 1961 to 1979, when he was assassinated by his security chief.

However, he is also reviled for his regime's human rights abuses.