The Busan International Film Festival’s organizers and Busan Metropolitan Government are negotiating to appoint the festival’s new chairman, the two parties said Wednesday.

The two sides denied that a conclusion had been reached on the appointment, despite reports earlier that said that BIFF’s honorary executive director Kim Dong-ho had been appointed the festival’s new chairman. The reports raised speculations that the drawn-out feud over the festival’s autonomy could be resolved soon.

There has not been any “dramatic agreement” struck between the festival and Busan city, BIFF’s current executive director, actress Kang Soo-yeon said in a statement.

“We are continuing negotiations to hold the festival as (per) normal this year, but nothing has been resolved yet. We have only come to a formal agreement on appointing a new chairman that the film industry can accept. Nothing has been resolved regarding the amendment of festival bylaws (to) guarantee BIFF’s autonomy,” the statement said.

In recent days, Kim and actor Ahn Sung-ki, the festival’s assistant executive director who has also been involved in BIFF since its early days, have been floated as possible figures to replace Busan Mayor Suh Byung-soo who resigned as the BIFF chairman in March.

Reports subsequently said Ahn refused to take up the position, and that BIFF’s executive committee strongly recommended Kim for the position. Kim is a well-respected figure in Korea’s film industry and also one of BIFF’s founding members. He was the festival’s executive director from its first edition in 1996 to 2010. He has served as chairman of the Presidential Committee for Cultural Enrichment, president of the Korean Film Council, president of the Seoul Arts Center, and deputy culture minister.

Busan Metropolitan Government, meanwhile, has been considering other prominent figures from Busan to serve as cochairman alongside Kim, who it said was partly responsible for the current inefficiency at the BIFF, according to reports.

BIFF, however, adamantly protested any cochairmanship, reports said.

BIFF and the Busan Metropolitan Government have been mired in a prolonged dispute ever since the festival screened a controversial documentary against the wishes of the city government in 2014.

Meanwhile, the Busan District Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday formally charged four key members of BIFF, including former executive director Lee Yong-kwan, with embezzlement and fraud.

Regarding the indictment, BIFF apologized and said it would await the court’s ruling. However, it protested the move to formally charge BIFF officials, claiming that the investigations were prompted by political motives.

The 21st edition of BIFF is scheduled to take place Oct. 6-15.  

By Rumy Doo (doo@heraldcorp.com)