KAIST Professor Kim Jeong-ho: "As President, I Will Contribute to School, Business, and National Development" (Comprehensive)

Deliberating Withdrawal from Candidacy Amid Prolonged President Appointment Process
Expressing Determination to Complete Amid Overwhelming Campus Support
Promising Support for Students and Companies Based on School Foundation and Revival of National Semiconductor Competitiveness

Professor Kim Jeong-ho, KAIST

Professor Kim Jeong-ho, known as the 'Father of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM),' from the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), announced on the 12th that despite the recent political turmoil, he will complete his challenge to become the next KAIST president for the sake of the semiconductor academic community, the school, and the domestic semiconductor industry.

In a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 12th, Professor Kim stated that he has finally decided to apply for the upcoming presidential recruitment scheduled for the 27th. Although he had previously hinted that he might not participate in the recruitment due to the political confusion surrounding the appointment of the next president, he has changed his stance and decided to continue his challenge until the end.

Currently, the KAIST Board of Directors is conducting a recruitment process for the next president until the 27th. Candidates recommended by the Presidential Candidate Selection Committee, those recommended by the Faculty Council, and those who apply on their own will be reviewed, and the final three candidates will be selected. Among them, the one who passes the personnel verification by the Presidential Office and is ultimately chosen is appointed as president, which is the established understanding within the science and technology community.

The current president, Lee Kwang-hyung's term ends at the end of February next year, but since the entity responsible for the final appointment is unclear, there is a high possibility of prolonged delays. Nevertheless, Professor Kim expressed his determination to quell the uncertainty overshadowing KAIST by completing the presidential appointment process.

Professor Kim said, "As KAIST president, I want to nurture future scholars, develop the school, and furthermore, link this development to corporate growth to lead the revival of Korea's semiconductor industry and strengthen the nation's science and technology capabilities."

Professor Kim is a presidential candidate selected through a vote by the KAIST Faculty Council. Following 2020, he has once again received support from professors this year and is challenging for the KAIST presidency as an internal candidate. Within KAIST, there is a growing opinion that Professor Kim is the most suitable candidate to become president through internal recommendation. This is because his status has significantly changed since 2020. At that time, Professor Kim's research field, HBM, was not well known, but with the advent of the artificial intelligence (AI) era and the rapid rise of NVIDIA's graphics processing units (GPUs), HBM, which is essential for GPUs, is now leading Korea's semiconductor industry.