The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) will hold an extraordinary board meeting on June 29 to elect its 18th president. At the meeting, the board is expected to vote on the three presidential candidates finalized in May to select the final nominee.
According to the science and technology community on June 24, the KAIST board will hold the extraordinary meeting to elect a president on the morning of June 29 at the Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI in Seoul. The three candidates are Professor Ryu Suk-young of the School of Computing, Professor Bae Choong-sik of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Professor Lee Do-heon of the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering.
The KAIST president is elected through a board vote after the presidential candidate selection committee finalizes three candidates and personnel verification is completed. If a candidate secures a majority of votes from the board, the Minister of Science and ICT appoints the president with the consent of the Minister of Education.
The KAIST board previously held an extraordinary meeting in February to elect a president, but the selection failed as no candidate obtained a majority of votes. At that time, three candidates were nominated: current President Lee Kwang-hyung, Professor Kim Jung-ho of the School of Electrical Engineering, and Lee Yong-hoon, former president of the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST). As concerns over a leadership vacuum caused by the delayed presidential election grew, the selection process was restarted. The presidential candidate selection committee newly finalized three final candidates in May.
President Lee Kwang-hyung, who currently leads KAIST, saw his term expire in February of last year. However, with no successor elected, he has continued to serve as president for more than one year and four months after his term ended. If no candidate secures a majority of votes at this extraordinary board meeting as well, KAIST's leadership vacuum is expected to be further prolonged.
