[This Person] Kim Moon-jung, Adjunct Professor at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Changed the Framework of Nowon Public Design

Professor Kim Moon-jung

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] At Seoul National University of Science and Technology, there is an expert who promotes mutual development between Nowon-gu and SeoulTech through communication with the local community.

He is Associate Professor Moonjung Kim, who serves as the Planning Director at SUDA (a company within the Institute of Form and Design) and concurrently as an adjunct faculty member at SeoulTech.

Professor Kim’s communication with the local community began with voluntary participation. The most representative place is the Nowon Garden Support Center located within Bulamsan Healing Town. Now, as spring is in full bloom, it is a place that offers mental healing to local residents who want to enjoy a walk under the warm spring sunshine, especially needed in times like these.

Surrounded by transparent glass on all sides, where visitors can drink tea and enjoy views of Bulamsan, the place is even more famous as a cafe named '4rest'.

The forest cafe naming, which was crafted through his talent donation, visualizes the geographical characteristics by combining the English word pronunciation of ‘forest’ with the number ‘4’, symbolizing rest from all four directions?east, west, south, and north?reflecting both the geographical feature of Bulamsan and the meaning of rest.

He is also participating in the BI and planning work for the cafe and museum at Hwarangdae Station, scheduled to open this year.

Professor Kim has been involved in public design projects in the Nowon area since 2018. Starting with the practical implementation of the ‘Seoul Campus Town’ project, he also served as the secretary for the ‘Nowon Green Campus Town Project,’ handling detailed project tasks and mentoring duties.

His increased interest in public projects and local affairs was sparked by local residents’ complaints that “the university threshold is too high.” This connection with the community began under the leadership of Professor Jinhwan Seo, director of the Institute of Form and Design at SeoulTech, and has extended to establishing the ‘Seoul Campus Town’ base center, installing the Healing Gallery at Dongsan High School in Gongneung-dong, planning and operating the Chuchu Market, as well as serving as a practical planner and research staff for the Nowon Green Startup Academy. Through collaboration with Nowon District Office and local residents, he has been actively applying his talents.

His talent donation for local youth is also notable. Last year, while commissioned by the district office to carry out the youth governance support project through the Institute of Form and Design, he conducted over 40 sessions of about 35 one-day classes as part of the youth talent-sharing program, and held around 10 lectures related to youth startup projects.

This commissioned project has been praised for playing a significant role in presenting new visions and dreams to local youth, who have been constrained by COVID-19, and in building cooperative relationships with local merchants.

Professor Kim stated, “I will actively cooperate with any public project collaboration proposals between SeoulTech and the local community where I can demonstrate my capabilities,” and pledged, “I will fulfill my role as a communication channel between local public projects and small and medium-sized enterprises,” raising expectations for his future endeavors.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.