[서울=뉴스핌] Reporter Lee Ji-eun = The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Yoo In-chon) and the Korea Creative Content Agency (Acting Director Yoo Hyeon-seok) are promoting the opening of six new overseas business centers by the end of 2024 to expand K-content’s entry into the European market.
Starting with the opening of business centers in the UK (London), Germany (Frankfurt), and Italy (Milan), Conjinwon plans to open new centers in Spain (Madrid), Sweden (Stockholm), and Türkiye (Istanbul) by the end of the year. Including the existing French business center, a total of seven K content export bases in the European region will be in full swing.
The opening ceremony of the UK Business Center was held at the Saatchi Gallery in London on the 23rd in conjunction with the new technology convergence content exhibition ‘The Eoullim in London’. Kim Si-woon, Minister of the Republic of Korea to the UK, and Director Seung-hye Seon of the Korean Cultural Center in the UK gave congratulatory remarks and expressed their expectations for cultural exchange and business expansion between Korea and the UK.
As it was held in conjunction with the new technology convergence exhibition in line with the British government’s policy of designating XR as one of the four major digital technologies, Park Jeong-yeon, head of the UK Business Center, announced a business promotion strategy focusing on new technology convergence content and announced the entry of domestic content companies into the British market. Expressed willingness to revitalize.
Katy Arnander, general program director of South by Southwest London (SXSW London), which is scheduled to be held for the first time in June next year, also attended the opening ceremony. He expressed his thoughts, saying, “It is very encouraging that the road to collaboration with Conjinwon has opened up in the UK, and I hope that South by Southwest London can also introduce a variety of Korean content.”
The German Business Center opened in Frankfurt. On October 17, Conjinwon held an opening ceremony in conjunction with the ‘2024 Germany Frankfurt Book Fair’, the world’s largest book fair. About 60 government and local business officials, including Consul General in Frankfurt Ko Gyeong-seok, Yang Sang-geun, director of the Korean Cultural Center in Germany, and Kim Hyeon-cheol, head of the European Division of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, attended.
Germany’s comics market is considered the fourth largest in the world and the largest in Europe. The German center plans to support the export of domestic content in various ways, such as business matching between Korean and German content companies in the webtoon genre and support for participation in local markets. As part of this, a ‘Understanding K Webtoon’ seminar was held along with the opening ceremony, and ▲Professor Hong Jin-ho of Seoul National University, ▲Delitoon team leader Jeong Jae-hwan, and ▲Showtoon CEO Yang Dae-hyeon introduced the current status of the Korean webtoon industry and cases of overseas expansion.
Antje Runge, mayor of Oberursel near Frankfurt, where many Koreans live, also attended the opening ceremony and said, “I congratulate the successful opening of the Korea Creative Content Agency’s German Business Center and promote cultural exchange between Korea and Germany. “I am confident that this will lead to practical economic cooperation between content companies,” he added.
On October 28, the Italian Business Center signed a business agreement with Pitti Imagine, the organizer of the global menswear fair Pitti Uomo, in Florence and began pursuing business in earnest. As this year marks the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and Italy and the year of mutual exchange between Korea and Italy, the local community also showed great interest in creating contact points with Korean content.
Raffaello Napoleone, President of Pitti Imagine, expressed his expectations for future collaboration, saying, “Korea is a powerhouse of content, including fashion, and the new concept of Korean fashion content that combines various genres will attract attention in Italy as well.”
In addition, the Italian Business Center held the opening ceremony of the ‘K Comics World Tour’ exhibition in collaboration with the Korean Cultural Center in Italy on the 25th. About 10 local media outlets, including Italian national broadcaster RAI, attended the opening ceremony and expressed their desire to collaborate to support business by introducing various genres of content in addition to webtoons to the local area.
Conjinwon currently operates 25 overseas business centers in 22 countries, and plans to open 5 new centers in 2025. The Overseas Business Center will continue to strive to spread K-content by performing various roles, including ▲supporting the promotion and marketing of domestic content, ▲supporting Korean content companies’ expansion into the local market, ▲establishing a local content industry network such as finding buyers, and ▲providing the latest trends in the local market.
Yoo Hyeon-seok, acting director of Conjinwon, said, “The significant expansion of overseas business centers in Europe to seven means that the European market is important for K-content exports.” He added, “The newly opened overseas business center will help pioneer emerging content markets and related industries.” “We will continue to strive to play a pivotal role in expanding joint exports.”
