Ball proximinality of $M$-ideals of compact operators

Abstract: In this article, we prove the proximinality of closed unit ball of $M$-ideals of compact operators. We also prove the ball proximinality of $M$-embedded spaces in their biduals. Moreover, we show that $\mathcal{K}(\ell_1)$, the space of compact operators on $\ell_1$, is ball proximinal in $\mathcal{B}(\ell_1)$, the space of bounded operators on $\ell_1$, even though $\mathcal{K}(\ell_1)$ is not an $M$-ideal in $\mathcal{B}(\ell_1)$.