By Kim Bo-eun
The president of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) will resign on Feb. 23 following the school’s graduation ceremony.
The school board said Thursday it had decided to accept President Suh Nam-pyo’s letter of his resignation, at a meeting at the JW Mariott Hotel in southern Seoul.
“Today, we accepted President Suh’s handwritten letter stating he will resign on Feb. 23,” said Oh Myung, chairman of the board of directors.
Meanwhile professors at KAIST rejected the decision and demanded that the president step down immediately. “It is highly likely that President Suh will take advantage of his position during his remaining tenure to try and extend his term,” they said in a statement.
The president said last week that although his term officially ends in July 2014, he will serve until March next year, when a regular board meeting is held. He also said that he will actively participate in the selection process for his successor.
Suh who was previously a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), became KAIST president in 2006, and was re-elected in 2010.
He initiated various controversial policies such as a system through which students pay tution according to their academic achievements.
However, following a series of suicides at the school last year, he came under pressure to resign.