Lee Seong-ju Named MBC President-Designate: How Was the Choice Narrowed from 20 Candidates to the Final 1?
As of 2026-09-14 at 11:3 a.m., Lee Seong-ju, an executive director at iMBC, was MBC's president-designate. The board of the Foundation for Broadcast Culture (FBC) selected Lee after interviewing 2 finalists on September 13. He was scheduled to be formally appointed at an MBC shareholders' meeting at 11 a.m. on 14. However, because the publicly available original sources reviewed by the time of writing did not confirm that the shareholders' meeting had completed the appointment, it is more accurate to describe his status as 'president-designate.'
What stands out about this appointment is not just the result. The initial pool of 20 presidential candidates was narrowed to 8, then 4, and finally 2 before Lee was selected following the final interview conducted by the FBC board. Another difference from previous appointments is that this was the first case in which members of the public participated in MBC's presidential selection process under the revised Broadcasting Act.
Who Is Lee Seong-ju, MBC's President-Designate?
Lee joined MBC as a reporter in 1995 and subsequently worked in news reporting, labor union leadership, media planning, and management of a digital subsidiary.
His publicly documented career includes the following positions.
Joined MBC as a reporter in 1995
1995–2009: Reporter in MBC's News Department
2013–2015: Chair of the MBC chapter of the National Union of Media Workers
2020–2023: Director of MBC's Media Planning Department
Since 2024: Executive director at iMBC
His most recent position as an executive director at iMBC is noteworthy because it gives him experience connected to MBC's digital and online businesses. However, whether that experience will lead to changes in MBC's organizational structure or business direction can only be assessed by examining actual management decisions and personnel appointments after he formally takes office.
MBC's Presidential Selection Process Narrowed the Field from 20 to 8, 4, and 2 Candidates
The process did not begin as a competition between Lee and just one other candidate.
According to the screening results released on September 2, 8 of the initial 20 candidates for the next MBC president passed the document screening and advanced to interviews. Following interviews conducted by the FBC, the field was reduced to 4 candidates. The Presidential Candidate Public Recommendation Committee then evaluated those candidates and selected 2 finalists.
In the final stage, Lee Seong-ju, an executive director at iMBC, and Jeon Dong-geon, a former president of Ulsan MBC, participated in the final interviews conducted by the FBC board. Following a vote, Lee was chosen as president-designate.
In terms of candidate numbers alone, the process was straightforward.
20 → 8 → 4 → 2 → 1
Based on the author's calculation, 1 person remained as the final president-designate from the initial 20 candidates, giving a final selection percentage of 1 ÷ 20 × 100 = 5%. This is a simple calculation of the selection ratio and does not represent individual candidates' evaluation scores or differences in vote totals.
Why Is 'Public Participation' Being Highlighted in This Appointment?
Under this process, a Presidential Candidate Public Recommendation Committee consisting of 150 members heard policy presentations from 4 candidates, conducted deliberative discussions and question-and-answer sessions, and recommended 2 finalists to the FBC board.
This is confirmed as the first instance of public participation in the selection of a public broadcaster's president under the revised Broadcasting Act.
However, the Public Recommendation Committee did not directly make the final appointment of MBC's president. The committee narrowed the field from 4 candidates to 2, after which the FBC board interviewed the two remaining candidates and selected the final president-designate.
It is therefore important to distinguish between the Public Recommendation Committee's candidate-shortlisting stage and the FBC's final designation stage, as they were separate procedures.
How Did the FBC Decide to Select Lee Seong-ju?
The Foundation for Broadcast Culture board held a special meeting on September 13 and conducted public interviews with Lee Seong-ju and Jeon Dong-geon, the former president of Ulsan MBC.
The final decision was subject to the special supermajority voting requirement introduced under the revised Broadcasting Act. Lee was selected as the final candidate through a procedure requiring approval from at least 3 out of 5 incumbent board members.
When searching for information, terms such as 'candidate selection,' 'president-designate,' and 'formal appointment' may appear interchangeably, but they refer to different stages.
On September 12, the Public Recommendation Committee selected 2 finalists. On September 13, the FBC selected Lee from among them as president-designate. The formal appointment was scheduled to take place through MBC's shareholders' meeting on September 14.
What Management Direction Has Lee Seong-ju Proposed for MBC?
The main elements of the management plan currently available cover news programming, drama production systems, and organizational operations.
The publicly disclosed proposals include restoring the punctual scheduling of Newsdesk, rebuilding drama competitiveness by strengthening a production management system centered on executive producers, and pursuing function-oriented organizational innovation.
During the final interview, Lee also expressed his intention to focus on the challenges facing MBC and to approach his responsibilities with an emphasis on people and those working on the ground.
An important distinction here is between a management plan and its actual implementation. Directions presented in a management proposal or interview do not constitute organizational restructuring that has already been finalized or implemented after taking office. Whether specific organizational changes, personnel appointments, AI applications, or changes to regional affiliates' operations will actually take effect can only be determined after official decisions are announced following his inauguration.
The First Thing to Verify After Lee's Designation Is Whether He Has Been Formally Appointed
The most immediate upcoming event at the time of writing was MBC's shareholders' meeting.
Lee was scheduled to be formally appointed at the shareholders' meeting at 11 a.m. on 2026-09-14, and the presidential term was confirmed to be 3 years.
The reference time for this article is 11:3 a.m. on the same day. Although the scheduled time of the shareholders' meeting had already passed, the publicly available original sources reviewed did not confirm that the formal appointment had been completed. For that reason, this article does not prematurely state that the appointment was finalized.
Once the shareholders' meeting results are officially announced, the appropriate terminology will also change. At that point, he should be identified as 'MBC president' or 'new president' rather than 'president-designate.'
What Has Changed Compared with Previous MBC Presidential Appointments?
The clearest confirmed change is the inclusion of a Public Recommendation Committee in the candidate-shortlisting process.
This time, the FBC progressively reduced the initial 20 applicants through its screening process. A Presidential Candidate Public Recommendation Committee involving 150 members of the public then reviewed 4 candidates through policy presentations, question-and-answer sessions, and deliberations.
The resulting 2 finalists were interviewed again by the FBC board, which selected the final president-designate.
Simply saying that 'the public directly elected the president' would misrepresent the actual procedure. Public participation was incorporated into the process of narrowing down the final candidates, while the FBC board was responsible for the ultimate designation decision.
Upcoming Developments to Watch
The first is the official appointment result from the shareholders' meeting on September 14. This is the most important information for distinguishing between being designated and formally taking office.
The second is the management and organizational decisions to be announced after the new president takes office. How and when the proposals in the currently disclosed management plan—including Newsdesk operations, drama production management systems, and organizational innovation—will actually be implemented has not yet been established.
The third is major personnel appointments and organizational restructuring. Immediately after the president's appointment, actual personnel decisions and organizational structures may provide a more concrete indication of changes in MBC's operations than the management plan itself.
Based solely on the facts confirmed so far, Lee Seong-ju, an executive director at iMBC, was selected as MBC's new president-designate on September 13 and was scheduled to be formally appointed at the shareholders' meeting at 11 a.m. on September 14. The selection process began with 20 candidates and narrowed the field to 8, 4, 2, and ultimately 1. The key change was the first implementation of a recommendation procedure involving 150 members of the public.
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