Meet Kkomae.
With rosy red cheeks and a red bowtie, he might be the next animated character your children will be talking about.
And with an edgier look, meet Adoonga.
Like Kkomae, this Korean character made its debut at one of the largest character fairs on Wednesday, with aspirations for international fame.


[Reporter : Connie Lee
connie@arirang.co.kr] "The Seoul Character and Licensing Fair is an exhibition to see all the Korean animation characters on display at one time. This event gathers both investors from all over the world and local fans."

More than 150 companies have set up their booths to promote their animated characters for the thousands of visitors expected to visit the five-day fair.


[Interview : Park Seong-sook, Manager
Wings Design ] "We also participate in exhibitions held around the world to promote our characters Valu and Croro . We are creating products specifically targeted to the global audience, like those in China."

The success of Pororo, the little penguin, who was created back in 2003, seems to have motivated other companies to create a character that garners local and international popularity.
Pororo's TV series currently airs in more than a hundred countries.


[Interview : Lim Young-sik, Head of Marketing/Licensing
Iconix Entertainment ] "The Pororo brand value stands at 380 billion won, or about 320 million U.S. dollars right now, and we are planning to increase that value in the next ten years, by targeting older kids."

The Korean character industry has been enjoying a boom.. with industry-related exports seeing a 30-percent increase from 2010 to 2011.
Korea's Creative Content Agency says the success is due to a combination of targeted marketing strategies and the creativeness of the characters.
Connie Lee, Arirang News.

Reporter : connie@arirang.co.kr