The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit 2025 was held in Gyeongju, Korea, from October 31 to November 1, 2025. Leaders from 21 member economies came together to discuss ways to enhance cooperation in trade, sustainability, digital innovation, and inclusive growth under the theme “Building a Sustainable Tomorrow: Connect, Innovate, Prosper.” As the host country, Korea not only led key economic dialogues but also highlighted its vibrant cultural heritage through a variety of exhibitions, performances, and design showcases. As an official sponsor of the APEC 2025 Summit in Gyeongju, DAMI shared the beauty of Korean ceramics with world leaders and visitors. Founded by Kim Sunsik, a ninth-generation potter from Mungyeong and a designated Intangible Cultural Heritage master, the brand reflects a lifelong dedication to preserving and advancing Korea’s traditional wood-fired ceramics.
Through DAMI, Kim Sunsik seeks to bring this heritage into modern daily life; creating tableware that is authentically Korean, beautifully functional, and crafted to meet global standards. DAMI represents a balance between tradition and modern practicality, between the warmth of fire and the refinement of design.
Below are excerpts from an email interview with Kim Sunsik from Oct 31 to Nov 2, about DAMI and the 2025 APEC Summit Week.
1. What makes DAMI’s ceramics special or different from others?
The greatest distinction lies in our exclusive use of pine wood firing, without any gas or electricity. This traditional method allows for a natural carbon interaction during firing, giving each piece its own unique strength, depth of color, and weight balance. To make wood firing compatible with modern production, we developed a mechanized wood-kiln system (cart-type kiln) that improves airflow and temperature control, enabling stable, scalable production with minimal defects.
We are currently preparing scientific testing in collaboration with Myongji University to verify the physical advantages of wood-fired ceramics. In essence, DAMI combines traditional fire with modern consistency, our hallmark difference.
2. Where do you get ideas for your designs?
All inspiration begins from what is most Korean; our heritage patterns, rhythms, and symbols. Working with Dr. Cho Shinhyun of Myongji University as DAMI’s Design
Director, we reinterpret traditional motifs into contemporary tableware. Such as Danggi (traditional ribbon) lines express grace and movement, Arabesque and Grape patterns evoke harmony and abundance, Wave motifs capture the flow of nature, and Moon Jar forms bring calm and balance.
Our goal is not trend-driven design, but forms that feel timeless and inevitable on any table.
3. How did DAMI become an official sponsor of the 2025 APEC Summit Week in Gyeongju?
For nearly 40 years, I have worked exclusively with wood-kilns. That lifelong dedication, and DAMI’s ability to produce high-quality, wood-fired ware consistently at scale, was a key factor in our selection. Among many brands, our identity as a heritage-driven maker who fires only with wood stood out. By developing an innovative mechanized wood-kiln capable of large-scale yet authentic production, we demonstrated that traditional firing can meet international hospitality standards for both quality and quantity.
4. Could you tell us about the special works DAMI presented during the APEC Summit?
For the APEC Summit, DAMI presented a Danggi-motif tableware collection designed for both Korean and Western dining. Its flowing ribbon lines reflect elegance and harmony while maintaining stackability, durability, and plating balance for professional use.
5. What kind of influence do you hope DAMI will have on how the world views Korean ceramics?
The global fascination with the Korean Moon Jar shows that authenticity transcends culture. Yet beyond form, the method of making defines a ceramic’s true character. No matter how beautiful a design may be, if it lacks the spirit and sincerity of craftsmanship, it will fade as a trend. Through DAMI, I hope to present Korean ceramics as living craft; sustainable, deeply human, and relevant to daily life. By exporting eco-friendly, wood-fired tableware, we aim to share with the world a way of making that is both ancient and forward-looking.
6. What are your future plans?
The global tableware market holds infinite potential. Today, chefs have become cultural leaders, and we aim to collaborate with them to create the most refined
expressions of Korean design for international dining. Our upcoming goals include: Collaborations with world-class chefs, developing signature lines
together. Ongoing R&D on durability, firing performance, and glaze stability. Sustainability initiatives, refining wood sourcing and kiln efficiency, as well as education and lineage, training younger artisans to carry this ninth-generation tradition forward.
Through these efforts, DAMI will continue to show that heritage and innovation can coexist beautifully.
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