Suh Nam-pyo, president of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, has insisted that he will not resign from his post despite enormous pressure from in and outside of the university.

The 15-member board, led by chairman Oh Myung, is scheduled to vote to decide his position Friday. Although his term is until 2014, if the board votes to end his contract prematurely, Suh must leave the office after three months’ notice.

But Suh said in a letter on Saturday that “even if they vote against me on July 20, I will stay in my position and do my job until the last day.”

He also said: “Securing the KAIST president’s term is not an individual matter. It’s a matter of respecting the school law and keeping the independence of the school.”

Former MIT professor Suh first took the helm of KAIST in 2006, and won his second four-year term in 2010.

Since taking office, he has faced increasing criticism over a number of strong measures he introduced to reform KAIST, such as strengthening tenure requirements for professors and withdrawing tuition-free status from underperforming students. The calls for his resignation grew after four students and a professor committed suicide last year.

But Suh claimed Saturday that he still believes the measures were was necessary to strengthen the school’s global competiveness.

“I hope and believe the board members will make the right decision based on facts not rumors, and what is really best for the university,” he added.

Suh is scheduled to formally announce his position at a press conference Monday.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)