SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Young South Korean’s craze over EBS mascot Pengsoo is based on a sense of catharsis that the character offers to South Koreans in their 20s and 30s, an animation expert said. Choi Jong-il, CEO of Iconix Entertainment, a South Korean animation company, said in a radio interview that “since [...]
SEOUL, March 8 (Korea Bizwire) — In the last two years, the amount of time spent on the YouTube app by South Koreans has tripled, beating out competition like online messaging service KakaoTalk and leading internet search portal Naver. According to mobile app research firm Wiseapp, South Koreans logged 7.9 billion minutes on the YouTube [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has exported more than US$100 million worth of animations to American and European markets this year, the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) said Monday, in a positive sign of market expansion amid strained economic and diplomatic relations with China over a U.S. missile defense system. The agency [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – The new Pororo movie, which is expected to premiere next month, will receive the ScreenX treatment at South Korean cinema chain CGV. CGV announced on Wednesday that the latest Pororo’s movie will be released as a ScreenX film with extra content displayed on additional screens to the right and [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — Seoul National University Bundang Hospital has made a virtual reality video explaining a surgical procedure for child patients, as part of efforts to help children relax before going into the operating room. Professors Han Seong-hee and Yu Jung-hee at the department of anesthesiology and pain medicine at Seoul National [...]
SEOUL, May 8 (Korea Bizwire) – OCON Inc., the animation studio that created the computer-animated TV series “Pororo the Little Penguin,” plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) next year, company officials said Monday. First aired in 2005, Pororo is one of the most popular cartoon characters for children in South Korea. OCON holds [...]
SEOUL, March 24 (Korea Bizwire) – The South Korean government plans tospend 30 billion won (US$26.8 million) to promote content makers this year, the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) said Thursday. The budget will be spent on content creators in six categories — animation, cartoon, character, story, music and fashion, said the agency under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. By category, the biggest chunk is reserved for [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – Seoul taxi drivers are notorious for rejecting customers and driving aggressively. In order to dispel their bad reputation, Seoul Metropolitan Government has introduced “Pororo” taxis in an attempt to paint cabbies in a more friendly light. The Seoul city government modified 20 owner-driven taxis with images of the popular [...]
SEOUL, July 17 (Korea Bizwire) – Greencar, the official car sharing operator of Seoul, will introduce “Pororo Green Cars” for the first time in Korea. While the Korean automobile industry is actively promoting character marketing like Hyundai and Kia’s “Tobot” transformer series, the largest car sharing service provider in Korea will roll out car-sharing vehicles fully [...]