Wrangling over the autonomy of the Busan International Film Festival continues, with the Busan Metropolitan Government and BIFF executive committee disagreeing yesterday over whether the two sides had agreed on the appointment of Kim Dong-ho, the festival honorary director, as its new chairman.

On Wednesday, local media reported that the two sides had “effectively agreed” on naming Kim, the founder of Asia’s largest film festival, as the new BIFF chairman, citing Busan City. Hours later, however, BIFF acting executive director Kang Soo-yeon issued a statement denying that the Busan Metropolitan Government and BIFF executive committee had struck a “dramatic settlement concerning this year’s film festival.”

In recent days, Kim and actor Ahn Sung-ki, who has also been involved in BIFF since the 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. Busan Metropolitan Government, meanwhile, had considered other prominent figures from Busan to serve as a cochairman alongside Kim, who it said was partly responsible for the current inefficiency of the BIFF, according to reports.

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

In Wednesday’s statement, BIFF executive committee expressed hope that this year’s festival, scheduled to run Oct. 6-15, would take place as planned.

“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.

The statement also protested the decision by Busan prosecutors to charge senior BIFF officials, claiming that the investigations were prompted by political motives.

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

By Rumy Doo (doo@heraldcorp.com)