Born in 1969, Kim Changho operates Obuja Onggi from Yeoju-si, in Gyeonggi-do — one of the most storied ceramic regions in Korea. He was certified as a trainee of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Onggijang in 2013, the official living lineage of Korean earthenware making. In 2020, he was designated Yeoju-certified Master Ceramic Craftsman (No. 8), and in 2023 received the Culture Award of Yeoju City.

His practice is devoted entirely to onggi — the unglazed, high-fired earthenware central to Korean domestic life for over a millennium, used above all for fermentation and storage. Where traditional onggi tends toward the monumental, Kim Changho has developed a smaller, more intimate interpretation: vessels scaled to the hand and the daily table, shaped by decades of repetitive making until the forms arrive almost of their own accord.

The defining work in his practice is the onggi hap — the lidded vessel in two parts. A hap is only complete when both halves fit precisely: the lid meets the base without force, without gap. The apparent simplicity of the form conceals the skill required to achieve that fit, and for Kim Changho, this precision is not technical display — it is a form of sincerity. The vessel holds because it is empty, and it is whole because two imperfect forms come together.

Works by Kim Changho are held in the collections of the Korea Heritage Service, the Onggi Folk Museum, and the National Intangible Heritage Center. In 2026, he received the Grand Prize at the 13th Korea Onggi Competition in Ulsan — the highest distinction in Korean earthenware making.