Korea Character Culture Industry Association to Hold Genuine Product Distribution Seminar on September 15... Seeking Joint Solutions for the Industry

The Korea Character Culture Industry Association (Chairperson Wonhee) will hold the ‘Domestic Character Industry Vitalization Seminar’ at the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) CKL Business Support Center at 2 PM on September 15.

Poster for the Korea Character Culture Industry Association ‘Domestic Character Industry Vitalization Seminar’

This seminar was organized to seek solutions by making the difficulties faced by the industry in the processes of discovering, commercializing, licensing, and distributing new characters, as well as the problem of weakening the competitiveness of the genuine product market due to illegal copying and the distribution of non-genuine products, common tasks for the industry.

Despite steadily creating new characters, the domestic character industry is experiencing difficulties in the commercialization stage, such as commercialization, licensing, and securing sales channels. In particular, the distribution of illegal copies and non-genuine products is being pointed out as a factor that weakens the competitiveness of companies and creators who develop and distribute products with legitimate costs.

The Association explained that since these problems are difficult to solve through the intellectual property protection or enforcement of individual companies alone, the industry must respond jointly from the perspective of the entire industrial ecosystem, from creation to commercialization and distribution.

The seminar will feature four presentations: △‘Current Status and Problems of the Character Industry’ by Kim Hyo-yong, President of the Korea Character Society; △‘The Reality and Challenges of New Character Discovery and Commercialization from a Distributor's Perspective’ by Kim Dae-il, CEO of Zinaworld; △‘Conditions for New Character Distribution Networks’ by Jung Young-jin, CEO of Dream C&C; and △‘A Market Where Genuine Products Become Competitive: Collective Marks and the Certified Distribution Ecosystem’ by Wonhee, Chairperson of the Korea Character Culture Industry Association.

The Association plans to prepare this seminar not as a venue to unilaterally promote a specific system or project, but as a forum for discussion to identify tasks that the industry must solve together to ensure the sustainable growth of the character industry and establish an orderly distribution system by gathering field opinions from each field, including production, licensing, manufacturing, and distribution.

Chairperson Wonhee said, “The issue of illegal copying and non-genuine distribution is not just a matter of infringement on the rights of a single company, but a problem that lowers the competitiveness of companies and creators who make and distribute genuine products, ultimately hindering the growth of the entire character industry. Through this seminar, the industry will not view these as individual problems but will speak out together to find solutions.”

Based on industry opinions, the Association plans to review collective marks, genuine product certification, and the creation of a genuine product distribution environment as one of the response directions to establish an orderly distribution system in the character industry.

Introduction to the Korea Character Culture Industry Association

The Korea Character Culture Industry Association (Chairperson Wonhee) was established in 2000 in accordance with Article 4 of the Rules on the Establishment and Supervision of Non-profit Corporations of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for the overall development of the character industry. Since its establishment, it has been promoting the combination of character business industry companies, such as character development, product manufacturing, and distribution. As of 2026, it has a total of 192 member companies and is promoting various businesses to maximize synergy, such as forming production and marketing consortiums among member companies, and to establish a one-stop system for the character business.

◆ At a Glance

· Issuing Organization: Korea Character Culture Industry Association

· Category: Design, Animation, Korea Character Culture Industry Association

· Distribution: September 10, 2026, 3:44 PM

Source: Korea Character Culture Industry Association Press Release (Newswire)

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