‘Board Resignation Rejection’ Kim Ki-sun, Former GIST President, Takes Legal Action

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Gwan-woo] Kim Ki-seon, former president of Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), expressed his refusal to accept the board of directors' decision to accept his resignation on the 5th and has taken legal action.

Former President Kim, who had not made an official statement amid various allegations and controversies over his reversal of resignation, has taken a stance directly opposing the board of directors, the highest decision-making body within the institution, drawing attention to future court rulings.

On the same day, Kim held a press conference in the GIST main conference room and stated, “I have filed an injunction with the court to suspend the effectiveness of the board’s decision to accept my resignation as president.”

He explained the reason for the lawsuit, saying, “The board’s decision lacked procedural fairness and, considering the importance of the matter, it was hastily handled as a miscellaneous agenda item rather than a resolution agenda.”

It is known that Kim conveyed his intention not to resign at the GIST board meeting held on the 30th of last month.

However, the board, after comprehensively considering the opinions of key executives, reportedly made a unanimous decision to accept the resignation.

Kim claimed that the board rushed the handling of his position issue, violating procedural legitimacy.

He is currently excluded from performing presidential duties.

On the same day, Kim also blamed the GIST labor union for the internal turmoil surrounding him.

He said, “I bow my head and apologize to the citizens of Gwangju, professors, executives, staff, and students for the recent unfortunate incident,” and claimed, “The fundamental cause of this internal turmoil lies in the immature administration of the labor union and the public relations team.”

He continued, “The labor union made unfair demands to the president regarding personnel management rights, which cannot be subject to collective bargaining, and as a method of dispute over the president’s rejection of the union’s proposal, they provided unilateral and distorted information to the media, causing internal turmoil,” and urged them to take responsibility for the incident that damaged the reputation of the president and the university.

Kim also requested an audit from the Ministry of Science and ICT regarding ▲ the labor union’s participation in the employee personnel committee ▲ the rank system for permanent employees ▲ allegations about the president provided by the labor union to the media ▲ and the school property, such as the cafeteria, operated by the labor union.

He added, “It has been confirmed that the labor union also obtained a labor-management agreement from the 6th president in 2014 by exploiting the precarious situation of the president just before dismissal,” and said, “The union, which is becoming politicized, must now return to its original stance for the development of the school.”

Earlier, the GIST board held the 129th regular board meeting on the 30th of last month and decided to accept former President Kim’s resignation and appointed Kim In-su, vice president of research, as acting president.

The GIST labor union raised suspicions that former President Kim received large amounts of research allowances and performance bonuses and amended the operating standards for retired faculty balance accounts and the rules for honorary professors to enjoy benefits after retirement.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.