Remembering Jooho Kim

ISPA is sad to announce the passing of Jooho Kim, CEO at Lotte Concert Hall, and recent ISPA June Congress Co-host in Seoul, South Korea.  Mr. Kim was an essential part of the ISPA Co-host team, and was instrumental in it's successful planning and implementation.  He was among the first generation of arts administrators in Korea.  Below is a full obituary for Mr. Kim.

Jooho Kim who is CEO at LOTTE Concert Hall, age 53, passed away at his home on early Sunday morning, May 26, 2013.  The cause was a sudden heart attack. He is survived by his wife, Lee Hyo-Jin, a son, Kim Joon, and a daughter, Kim Lynn.  

Before he was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Lotte Concert Hall in March 2012, he was a president and CEO at Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra for three years.

At Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Jooho worked in close collaboration with Maestro Myung-Whun Chung, and during his tenure he has been recognized with his successful leadership resulting in the orchestra’s phenomenal growth. Major accomplishments include the first time ever 9-city-tour to Europe and a long term label contract with Deutsche Gramophone, among many others.

Prior to joining SPO, Jooho has been engaged in arts administration sector for over last 25 years, having started his first career at the Seoul Arts Centre in 1987. Upon his hands-on experiences for a full decade at the most prestigious arts center in Korea, he then had taken a position of the General Manager at the LG Arts Centre for the Performing Arts in 1997. His projects at LG Arts Center were sensational especially in marketing and theater management aspects, greatly contributing to the Theater Management field in Korea. He then left LG Arts Center, and from 2002 to 2005, he worked as a Principal Consultant on cultural policy at Metaa Consulting Inc. providing solutions and strategies for arts and cultural institutions. In the following year, Jooho Kim was assigned as the founding president and CEO of the KACES (Korean Arts and Culture Education Service) for 3 years.

Jooho’s professional career expands beyond his main position. Dedicating himself as a non-executive director, Jooho served as a board member of KBS Symphony Orchestra. With his profound expertise in arts and cultural affairs, he also devoted himself as the member of Arts Advisory Committee under the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Affairs, and the governor of FACP (Federation for Asia Cultural Promotion). 

For a year from 2007 to 2008, Jooho Kim was also a member of cultural Committee of Korea National Commission for UNESCO. His previous commitments include a member of National Curriculum steering Committee with Ministry of Education of Human Resource Development and a board member of Asian Arts Centre for Performing Arts.

Jooho Kim holds MA degree in Linguistics from Korea University and Postgraduate Diploma in Arts Administration from City University, London. His written works are ‘Music Business Hand Book’ (1998) and ‘Arts Management’ (2002) and those are widely used as textbooks in universities for arts majors. 

Jooho Kim was one of first generation of art administrators in Korea.  He was a leader, a teacher, a protector, a diplomat, a social servant, and a friend to many artists and arts managers here in Korea and abroad as well. He will be greatly missed.