(image: Kakao Corp.)
SEOUL, July 12 (Korea Bizwire) — Users of KakaoTalk, South Korea’s most popular mobile messenger, picked Munyongi as this year’s rising emoticon star.
The selection followed a two-week vote that began on June 19, according to Kakao Corp., the operator of the messaging app.
Each user was able to vote once per day. A total of 5.8 million users participated, casting 8.72 million votes.
Munyongi, a cute white character, came in first place with 1.01 million votes.
It was followed by Twal-duck (770,000 votes) and Cutie-pie Gomdyori (610,000 votes).
Kakao will develop goods and open pop-up stores for the winning artists who created the emoticons.
More than 40 million lucky cards were given to all users who voted.
Some 460,000 people posted the cards on social media with a certain hashtag to participate in a lottery event.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
