KAIST

Prof. Kyung-Won Chung of the Department of Industrial Design, KAIST, has been appointed as the new chief design officer of the Seoul Metropolitan City, university sources said on Tuesday (May 26).

Chung succeeded Prof, Young-Gull Kwon of Seoul National University who served as the inaugural head of the design division since 2007. The deputy-mayor level position has a two-year term.

With a vision to turn Seoul into a "global design hub," the Seoul city administration established the design division and initiated a slew of initiatives including design competitions aimed at improving the city"s looks.

Prof. Chung graduated from Seoul National University and its graduate school. Then, he earned a master"s degree from Syracuse University, New York, and a doctorate from Manchester Metropolitan University in Britain. Since February 2009, he has served as an executive of the newly-created Seoul Design Foundation. He also served as president of the Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP) from February 2000 through May 2003.