Gwangju Mayor Kang Woon-tae; Chung Man-kee, assistant minister of the Office of Industrial Creativity and I

nnovation at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; Dr. Lee Tae-yong, president of Korea’s Institute of 

Design Promotion (KIDP); and Jang Sang-geun, president of the Gwangju Design Center, attend a ceremony 

to open Design Korea 2013 in the first floor exhibition hall of the Kim Dae-joong Convention Center on Oct. 10. (photos: KIDP)

Design Korea 2013, which took place in Gwangju from Oct. 10-13, served as an opportunity to take a look at the latest design trends in Korea and abroad as well as the Korean design industry’s global competitive edge.

Korea’s representative design fair, the 11th since its inception, was hosted by the Gwangju Metropolitan City and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE).

Among the celebrities on hand at the opening ceremony in the first floor exhibition hall of the Kim Dae-joong Convention Center on Oct. 10 were Gwangju Mayor Kang Woon-tae; Chung Man-kee, assistant minister of the Office of Industrial Creativity and Innovation at MOTIE; Dr. Lee Tae-yong, president of Korea’s Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP); and Jang Sang-geun, president of the Gwangju Design Center. 

Fourteen representatives from design organizations from eight countries, including China, Japan and India, participated in the ‘Asia Design Summit,’ which took place in the 3rd floor conference room of the convention center as a prelude to Design Korea 2013. The summit, held under the theme “Economic Growth in Asia through Raising the Economic Value of Creative Industries (Design)” was the first such one since the launch of Design Korea, which was designed to promote personnel exchanges through an Asian design network and build design infrastructure for growth. 

KIDP President Lee said in his welcoming speech at the summit, “Design is a key value influencing daily life and state administration beyond company and industry. I’m sure the Asia Design Summit will have a positive impact on co-prosperity of the world beyond Asia.”

Dignitaries take a look at the exhibits on display at Design Korea 2013. 

The speakers of the summit shared the significance and necessity of cooperation in Asia in all design segments. In particular, Pradyumna Vyas, of the National Institute of Design of India, stressed the establishment of a network among design education institutes of Asian countries to promote the development of the creative economies in the region.

Ahmad Bin Haji Zainuddin, chairman of the Malaysia Design Council, touched on 11 key strategies to nourish the creative economy and introduced a case on the “indigenous to modern” concept, which is similar to Korea’s K-design policy, drawing keen attention from Korean design-related officials. 

KIDP President Lee Tae-yong speaks at the 2013 Next 

Convergence Seminar at COEX in southern Seoul on Oct. 1.

Design Korea 2013 began with a scarf cutting performance involving some 20 notables wishing for the successful hosting of the fair, followed by a one-hour program consisting of an opening ceremony, a report on the exhibition theme and the current status of the fair, and a tour of the exhibition site. 

In a video message telecast at the opening ceremony, President Park Geun-hye said, “Design, based on such essential values as imagination, ideas, and creativity, which encompasses companies and countries, is a driving force in an era of creativity.” She promised that her government would pay keen attention to the development of design manpower.

Design Korea 2013’s exhibition site was divided into six sections: Theme Pavilion, World Best Design Pavilion, K-Design Kium Pavilion, K-Design Saeum Pavilion, K-Design Creative City Pavilion, and Experience Pavilion. 

A view of the exhibition site of Design Korea 2013