Obituary Kim Chul-ho

The management and employees of the Red Dot Design Award are in mourning for Kim Chul-ho who died on 5 June 2019 after a long, serious illness. Kim Chul-ho was a long-standing juror for the Red Dot Award: Product Design and Red Dot Award: Design Concept. His expertise and impeccable judgment made him a valuable member of the jury who greatly advanced the quality and significance of the Red Dot Design Award.

After studying at Hongik University and Hanyang University in Seoul, his work for LG Electronics represented one of the most important stages of his career. Between 1974 and 2003, he was Executive Vice President of the LG Electronics Corporate Design Center and was also appointed head of the LG Electronics Design Competition in 1983. He later brought his expertise and keen understanding of design as a critical factor for economic success to his role as President of the Korea Institute of Design Promotion (2003-2006) and Dean of the International Design School for Advanced Studies at Hongik University, the first professional graduate school for design in Korea. He was also a member of the Korean Association of Industrial Designers and the Seoul Design Forum.

Kim Chul-ho played a decisive role in the international rise of LG Electronics to become a leading manufacturer of information, consumer and household electronics by successfully consolidating the company’s design philosophy. His work is the foundation on which the successful design expertise of LG is still based to this day. With Kim Chul-ho, the design world loses a leading influential light who made a valuable contribution to the establishment of design in Korea and in the international arena.

The management of the Red Dot Design Awards sincerely mourns his loss. Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to his family and relatives.