With Korea's fictional characters in the animation industry hoping to further expand their presence in the international scene, organizers of an ongoing fair here in Seoul hope their event will serve as a platform for significant advances to that end.
Here's Kim Youngwon .
Pororo the Little Penguin, Pucca, the daughter of Chinese noodle restaurant owners and the quirky rabbit Mashimaro are some of the Korean characters that are known and loved worldwide.
The Pororo the Little Penguin TV show can be seen in 82 countries and along with 2500 different products, it netted a profit of four-point-one billion won, or over 4 million US dollars.
[INTERVIEW : Kim Jongse, Director,Iconix]"I think children from all over the world respond well to the show because the themes dealt with in Pororo are those that any child can relate to".
The local animation character industry is continuously growing and with a market worth four-point-five billion won, it's now bigger than the film industry.
The market here is lead by Japan's Hello Kitty, but three Korean characters are in the top three with Pororo ahead of Winnie the Pooh.
At the Character Fair that opened Wednesday, buyers are keenly interested in getting to know the local characters.
[INTERVIEW : John Kafka]"In my opinion, a warmth to a lot of the Korean projects are missing. I think that Korea is positioned to be a real global, provider"".
Japan's Hello Kitty, which was created in 1974, draws in 500-million dollars from its continuous line of products.
And America's Disney Corporation with its long and storied history in animation has a gross revenue of 20-billion dollars.
[INTERVIEW : Kim Bukyeong, President,VOOZ]"I think we need to invest in the already established characters and turn them into icons that represent Korea".
And the creator of Dooli, the green dinosaur, says creativity will be the main force behind the animation character industry's growth.
[INTERVIEW : Kim Soojeong, Creater",Dooli"]"We need support to reflect our true colors and how we are feeling in our creations".
Kim Youngwon, Arirang News.
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