Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
HS Seoul, UNESCO in deal on design
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Seoul City can use the logo of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in domestic and overseas promotion of the city after being designated as a Creative City for Design.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon signed an MOU with Chun Taeck-soo, secretary-general of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, Tuesday to cooperate on consolidating the city’s competitiveness through design.
The capital was designated as the eighth Creative City for Design by UNESCO in July. Other cities in the network include Berlin, Buenos Aires, Kobe, Montreal, Nagoya, Shenzhen and Shanghai.
The municipal government can now apply the UNESCO logo to its public facilities, projects and promotional materials.
“Seoul has been reborn as a global brand with recognition from UNESCO,” Seoul Mayor Oh said. “The credible UNESCO logo on Seoul’s promotional materials will give confidence to potential international visitors.”
The city estimates that being a UNESCO City of Design will help it jump in the city brand value rankings to 20th from the current 33rd within five years.
“It also will create some 25,000 jobs in five years, expanding the design industry size to 10 billion won,” a city official said.
As a City of Design, the Capital is preparing various events and projects related to design. At Seoul Design Fair, starting Friday, a design market will be held to support companies which want to export their products.
The city will open the UNESCO Design Seoul Academy next year, inviting design experts from inside and outside Korea and a children’s design camp will exhibit Seoul’s urban design to children from developing countries next year.