Korean Comics Knock on Europe

By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter

Korean comic books, re-emerging as a popular form of cultural content, are now targeting the European market.

The Korea Culture and Content Agency (KOCCA) will hold the 2009 Korean Comics Special Exhibition Feb. 2-7 at the Korean Culture Center in Paris, France, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the genre.

The exhibition is designed to explore the centennial history of the genre and shed light on seven veteran authors - Kim Jin-I, Park So-hee, Kim Byung-soo, Yoon Tae-ho, Shim Seung-hyun, Sobogi and Oh Youn.

The authors will also participate in the Angouleme International Comics Festival, which will take place Jan. 29-Feb. 1 in Paris.

The authors will meet the local fans in the city Feb. 2-3 to share ideas on new trends and the circulation of Korean comics.

The event covers the Korean cartoons and comics created during Korea's colonial period (1910-1945), the Korean War (1950-53), the politically turbulent and booming days of the genre in 1980s and 90s and the emergence of Web-based work in the 21st century.

The exhibition will introduce "Kingdom of the Winds" by Kim Jin and "Goong" (The Palace) by Park So-hee as examples of multi-use content, "An Old Midwife With a Baby Carrier" by Kim Byung-soo as an example of edutainment, "Moss" by Yoon Tae-ho and "Pape Popo Memories" by Shim Seung-hyun as on-line comics and Sobogi (The 2nd Secret That Takes a Little Time) and Oh Yeon (East Asia Fantasy) as rising authors in the new movement.

Also during the event, comic-based films "Le Grand Chef", "The War Of Flower" and "Hello Schoolgirl" will be shown.

"Korean comics, with their 100th anniversary, are expected to come closer to European fans through this special exhibition. We will try to globalize Korean comics in overseas markets with various strategies", Ko Suk-man, president of the KOCCA, said.

The KOCCA will also host special exhibitions of Korean comics in Bologna, Italy, in March and the U.K. in May.

In a 1909 issue of the "Daehan Minbo", one of the first newspapers in Korea, Lee Do-young, a traditional painter, started drawing the nation's first one-cut political cartoon, which criticized Japan's efforts to take over the nation. One of his works, "Mimicking Another", poked fun at corrupt Korean officials aping the acts of the Japanese.

Since then, the genre has worked as a medium for political propaganda during military regimes and later evolved into the funnies and, recently, Web-based comics on major portals.

Popular comic books have recently been recreated as hit films such as " Le Grand Chef" and "The War Of Flower" and games such as "Kingdom of the Winds" (Drama adaptation "Land of wind").