Kim Mihwa to Serve as CEO of Ansan Cultural Foundation

Final Acceptance After Document Screening and Interview
Ansan Cultural Foundation Denies Whitelist Allegations

Broadcaster Kim Mihwa (55) will serve as the 5th CEO of the Ansan Cultural Foundation. The Ansan Cultural Foundation announced on the 24th that Kim participated in the CEO recruitment announced on the 10th of last month and received notification of her acceptance on the 20th. Her term will begin on the 1st of next month and last for two years, with an annual salary of approximately 80 million KRW.

Kim became a comedian after winning the silver prize in the 1984 KBS Gag Contest. She gained fame in 1987 by hosting the "Three Couple" segment on KBS entertainment show "Show Video Jockey." She was loved for her portrayal of a strict lady with straight eyebrows. She was also an early member of KBS's "Gag Concert." Later, she expanded her activities by hosting KBS's "TV Talks About Books" and MBC Radio's "The World and Us," among others.

During the Lee Myung-bak administration, Kim faced difficulties in her broadcasting career after being placed on a "blacklist" managed by the National Intelligence Service due to her political statements. In 2013, her master's thesis submitted to Sungkyunkwan University's Graduate School of Communication and Information titled "The Influence of Celebrity Reputation on the Selection of Hosts by Broadcast Directors" was suspected of plagiarism, leading her to voluntarily step down from CBS's "Kim Mihwa's Everyone." At that time, the university stated, "Although there is some plagiarism, it is difficult to consider the thesis as a whole to be plagiarized."

Broadcaster Kim Mi-hwa is speaking at the memorial cultural event for the late Roh Hoe-chan, floor leader of the Justice Party, held on the 26th at Yonsei University Auditorium in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

The Ansan Cultural Foundation set the qualifications for the CEO position Kim will assume as follows: "A distinguished cultural artist or someone with understanding and vision in the cultural and artistic fields," "A person with at least 5 years of experience as a cultural and artistic public official at the national or local government level, with a final rank of grade 4 or higher," and "A person who has worked for 5 years or more in a managerial position or higher at national/public or private cultural and artistic institutions or organizations."

Kim meets the first condition. It is reported that she operates the "Homi" art-farming caf? in Wonsam-myeon, Yongin City, which also serves as a venue for artistic performances, and has been involved in various cultural activities. Some speculate that Kim's acceptance was prearranged or deliberately aligned, raising suspicions of a "whitelist." However, the Ansan Cultural Foundation firmly denied this, stating, "This is absolutely not true."