Suh Nam-pyo Reelected as Head of Top Tech School

Suh Nam-pyo was reelected Friday to a second term as head of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, or KAIST, despite controversy over internal conflict and suspected government intervention.

The school held a board meeting at the Westin Chosun Hotel in central Seoul and reelected Suh as president. The university`s board held a vote to select one of the five candidates recommended by the Presidential Candidate Search Committee.

The result of the vote reportedly suggested that 16 of the 18 board members supported Suh. Board chairman Chung Moon-sul said, “The majority of the board members approved Suh’s reelection,” adding, “But we cannot tell you the details of the voting results due to regulations.”

The board planned to elect the president without changing the articles of incorporation since this clause is included in the internal rules of the search committee, saying, “It takes a long time to revise the articles of incorporation for the school.”

KAIST promptly completed the revision of its articles of incorporation at the meeting as well, however.

Chung said, “The board members reached an agreement and completed the process to (revise the articles of incorporation) in 10 minutes.”

An Education, Science and Technology Ministry source also said, “The revision of the articles of incorporation was already approved by the education minister.”

Suh will start his second term after receiving approval from the education minister. "I`ll redouble my efforts to advance the university’s educational system through reform,” he said. “I`ll humbly tackle the problems of insufficient communication (between the ministry and the school), an issue raised this time.”

kini@donga.com