KAIST Acting President to Remain as Next President Search Reopens

KAIST said on March 13 that President Lee Kwang-hyeong will continue to perform the duties of the presidency as acting head until a new president is appointed, following his earlier resignation announcement.

Lee had offered to resign after the university’s board rejected the plan to appoint a next president at a Feb. 26 meeting. He had been scheduled to step down on March 16, but the board asked him to remain in a leadership role until a successor is named.

The university noted that campus members and the public were increasingly concerned about a leadership vacuum and the disruptions that could follow. Lee said he accepts the situation with a sense of moral responsibility and will stay on to provide stability during a critical period.

The board cited the need to maintain operational continuity at KAIST and, accordingly, urged Lee to remain as acting president until the next appointment is made.

The search for the next KAIST president has been reopened, with the expectation that the selection process will take several months.

KAIST professors and students issued a statement expressing worry over the vacancy at the top of the university, underscoring the broader desire for stable leadership amid ongoing research and education programs.

Why this matters beyond Korea: KAIST is one of Korea’s premier research universities, significantly contributing to science and technology development, talent cultivation, and international research collaborations. For U.S. readers, leadership stability at KAIST can influence joint research projects, technology transfer, supply-chain and policy planning related to Korea’s fast-growing tech sector, and the broader pace of cross-border innovation partnerships with American institutions and industry.