Yoon Joo Kang, President of the Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP)
The reception area of the Design Korea Pavilion
A visitor poses inquiries to an EFLOW representative inside the Pavilion
Group portrait of delegates from the Design Korea Pavilion
With artificial intelligence becoming embedded in everyday gadgets, KIDP President Yoon Joo Kang intends to take the prominent “Design Korea” exhibition overseas starting next year.
BERLIN, GERMANY, September 13, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — At IFA 2026 in Berlin, the Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP) made a strategic announcement: as artificial intelligence (AI) narrows the technological gap across consumer electronics, industrial and user-experience design has once again become the defining factor in global market rivalry.
Speaking from the Messe Berlin exhibition halls, KIDP President Yoon Joo Kang stressed that while major tech companies dominated the previous decade through raw performance metrics, the widespread integration of AI is transforming technology into a standard, basic infrastructure.
“Consumers don’t need to understand AI code; what really counts is how AI improves human well-being,” President Kang stated. “AI does not eliminate design—it accelerates the design era. Without design serving as the link between people and technology, innovation remains trapped in abstract potential with no tangible impact.”
Korean Designers Powering Global Tech Leaders
The market’s pivot toward design-centric competition is already visible in commercial activity. Through the Design Trade Mission program—run by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and KIDP—South Korean industrial design firms have secured high-value contracts with major multinational corporations, such as Chinese consumer electronics giants Xiaomi and Haier.
Four specialized design consultancies—BDCI, Second White, intenxiv, and ABOVE—represented this service-export effort at IFA 2026, engaging directly with European companies and startups during the B2B networking event “Korean Design Meets Berlin: Built for Real Life.”
Design Korea Going Global Next Year
To strengthen worldwide appreciation of Korean design intellectual property, President Kang revealed that KIDP will take its flagship annual domestic exhibition, Design Korea, to international venues starting next year.
This initiative will visit key global markets using an integrated approach that combines products, manufacturing firms, and design agencies through trade fairs, solo showcases, and roadshows. After IFA 2026, the delegation will move on to Maison & Objet in Paris and the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, backed by post-exhibition legal, export, and contract-negotiation assistance.
President Kang also urged for a cohesive national branding strategy across government bodies: “In an age of technological equivalence where external image defines national identity, showcasing fragmented pavilion appearances weakens our combined impact. Creating a unified control tower to project a single K-design identity is an urgent necessity.”
Human-Focused Practicality at the IFA NEXT Pavilion
The principle of prioritizing human usefulness over raw technical specs was demonstrated across the 170.5-square-meter Design Korea Pavilion in Hall 25 (IFA NEXT). Developed through the Design-Driven Manufacturing Innovation Program, 13 manufacturing enterprises displayed lifestyle-oriented applications of advanced technology:
* DH Global: A 150-liter compact kimchi refrigerator designed for single-person households and boutique hotel settings.
* FRT Robotics: The Step-Up Neo unpowered, ergonomic soft exogear, engineered to reduce lower-back strain in industrial workplaces without motors or batteries.
* EFLOW: The HyDee portable hydrogen fuel cell generator, offering zero-emission power whenever needed.
* U2 System: The Purisoo Plus, an all-in-one portable water purification bottle.
Additional exhibitors included EKLEER (standalone AI smart display), Motoway (Ceracam heavy machinery AI safety camera), DARAM (KAISAR healthcare device), Hexa Innoheal (Ember Q pain-relief device), EMSONIC (Lumio Bluetooth speaker), Bokuk Electronics (rapid-heating dishwasher-safe humidifier), SM (salon nail dust collector), PTG Company (Bartooler modular beverage dispenser), and Yeomyeong Lighting (smart LED streetlights).
“Our aim is to help domestic businesses gain international acclaim not simply for being ‘Made in Korea,’ but for the superior value of being ‘Designed in Korea,'” Kang concluded.
About KIDP
The Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP) is a government-affiliated organization under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE). Established to boost national industrial competitiveness, KIDP supports design research, global service exports, design-driven manufacturing innovation, and the nurturing of specialized design talent.
Nara Suh
Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP)
+82 31-780-2227
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