The 8th Busan Global Webtoon Festival, one of Korea's leading webtoon events, has successfully concluded with more than 6,000 visitors over four days.

The Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) and the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency (President&CEO Kim Tae-yeol) announced that the 8th Busan Global Webtoon Festival, held from October 3rd to 6th at the Busan Cultural Content Complex, attracted over 6,000 visitors and 180 participating artists, saw 182 business consultations, and resulted in the signing of MOUs.

This year’s festival was the largest ever, featuring the participation of more than 180 webtoon artists and over 800 exhibited works. In addition to domestic artists, webtoon creators from seven countries, including the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Italy, France, and Egypt, showcased their works.

Particularly notable was the festival’s theme, "Webtoon The Movie: Multiverse," reflecting the growing expansion of webtoons into films, dramas, and games. The event highlighted webtoon works in conjunction with global film content. Furthermore, the festival featured 13 distinct exhibition sections, including a special exhibition celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Ruler of the Land, the "Blue" exhibition showcasing winners of the Korea-Italy joint webtoon contest, a world artists' invitational exhibition, and the "Busan Webtoons of the Year" exhibition.

At the Webtoon Business Consultation, 16 domestic and international webtoon production and distribution companies participated, holding 182 consultations with local webtoon artists. These meetings explored opportunities for the commercialization of Busan’s webtoon works and collaborations on new creative projects. This year, the consultation time was tripled compared to the previous year, allowing for more in-depth business discussions.

In addition, various interactive programs such as live drawing shows, popular artist talk shows, "Beat the Artist" battle drawing events, and family comic drawing competitions were held, attracting many families who enjoyed engaging with webtoon creators.

One attendee remarked, "It was fascinating to see the live drawing show by the artists on site," adding, "My child dreams of becoming a webtoon artist, and this festival provided a meaningful opportunity to communicate with webtoon creators and experience the art firsthand."

Moreover, on October 5th, the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency signed a memorandum of understanding with the TAIWAN CREATIVE CONTENT AGENCY (TAICCA) to jointly operate the B-Webtoon Masterclass and Mentor School. Additionally, global webtoon institutions such as the Kitakyushu Museum of Japan and Accademia Nemo from Italy attended the event, fostering global collaboration through webtoons and strengthening Busan’s position as a global hub for webtoon content.

Kim Tae-yeol, President of the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency, expressed gratitude, saying, “Despite the inclement weather caused by the typhoon on both the opening and closing days, we deeply appreciate the Busan citizens and artists who visited and enjoyed the festival. We look forward to webtoons playing a significant role in establishing Busan as a global hub for IPs like films, webtoons, and web novels. We will continue to support the growth of the webtoon industry in Busan.”

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