The Busan International Film Festival decided to renew Lee Yong-kwan’s term as chairman in an extraordinary general meeting held Thursday at the Busan Cinema Center‘s BIFF Hill. Lee will lead the annual film festival for the next four years.

As one of the founding members of the BIFF in 1996, Lee has held several posts at the organization, including programmer-in-chief, vice-director and director of the board before being appointed as chair of the board in 2018.

“Not only has Lee successfully led the BIFF’s normalization, but he also strengthened the festival’s reputation as Asia’s largest film festival through successful quarantine measures.” the BIFF board said in announcing its decision.

“I will try my best to keep up with the expectations of Busan citizens and filmmakers with a fresh mind.” Lee said. He pledged to come up with a long-term vision and to start the groundwork of planning for the next decade.

Plans announced at Thursday’s meeting included strengthening crisis management strategies to cope with the changes in business environment and establishing a foundation for innovative growth.

By Kim Hae-yeon (hykim@heraldcorp.com)