KBS holds extraordinary board meeting Tuesday; new president to serve three-year term, renewable once

The KBS board of directors voted at an extraordinary meeting Tuesday to recommend former Wavve CEO Lee Tae-hyeon as its nominee for the 28th KBS president. [Yonhap]
The KBS board of directors voted at an extraordinary meeting Tuesday to recommend former Wavve CEO Lee Tae-hyeon as its nominee for the 28th KBS president. [Yonhap]

Lee Tae-hyeon, former chief executive of Wavve, has been selected as the final candidate for the next KBS president.

The KBS board of directors held an extraordinary meeting Tuesday and conducted final interviews with three candidates: Lee, former KBS Media CEO Kim Young-sam, and Eom Gyeong-cheol, a current member of KBS's license fee division and former head of its Busan regional bureau. The board then voted to recommend Lee as the nominee for the 28th KBS president.

On Saturday, KBS's Presidential Candidate Public Recommendation Committee reviewed five applicants and forwarded three to the board for final interviews.

Ten of the board's sitting directors attended Tuesday's meeting, including newly appointed members Lee Gang-deok and Jang Han-sik, both recommended by the People Power Party. The new directors called for a postponement of the vote, but their request was rejected, and they ultimately walked out just before the ballot was held. Lee secured the support of more than three-fifths of the sitting directors to become the final presidential candidate.

Lee graduated from Korea University with a degree in philosophy and joined KBS as a producer in 1994. He has since served as head of KBS's content business division, chief executive of Wavve and chief executive of the Hanam Cultural Foundation.

As the board's nominee, Lee must clear a National Assembly confirmation hearing before the president formally appoints him to begin his term. The new KBS president will serve a three-year term and may be reappointed once.


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