○ Sungyong Park: This is the time for “Gyeong Gi Culture,” , to quickly deliver the cultural news of Gyeonggi Province. We are together every Friday. Let's meet Reporter Park full of bright energy. Hello. Reporter Park!

▶ Suyoung Park: Hello. This is Suyoung Park, a ‘Culture News Messenger’ that quickly delivers cultural news such as various exhibitions and performances in Gyeonggi-do. These days, where I spend a lot of time at home, I spend a lot of time watchingn 'webtoon'.

○ Sungyong Park: You are talking about ‘Cartoon' that you see on your mobile phone, not in a book. I also enjoyed watching webtoons.

▶ Suyoung Park: That's right. It is a new word created by combining ‘web' meaning internet and ‘cartoon' meaning cartoon. This webtoon market is growing both domestically and globally with generations passing. In this moment of history, the “Bucheon International Cartoon Festival”, which is celebrating its 23rd this year, cannot be omitted. I'll hear about what kind of festival it is from Kim Joon-ho, the team leader of the Korea Animation Promotion Agency.

[Interview/ Joon-ho Kim, Team Leader, Korea Animation Promotion Agency]

“The Bucheon International Cartoon Festival is the largest cartoon festival in Korea, which has been running for 23 years this year. As the name suggests, it was held every August at the Korean Cartoon Museum located in Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do. However, this year, we are preparing for an all-out online festival due to the spread of COVID-19. We are preparing to meet you on the website of Bucheon International Cartoon Festival and YouTube for 9 days from September 19th to September 27th.”

○ Sungyong Park: This Bucheon International Cartoon Festival is held online for 9 days from September 19th to 27th.

▶ Suyoung Park: Yes, there are a variety of online programs that you can enjoy non-face-to-face, such as non-face-to-face online opening ceremony, which is the first ever in the history of the Cartoon festival, to room corner concerts, and meeting writers. We will hear from team leader Kim Joon-ho in detail about what programs are prepared.

▲ Poster for the 4th Gyeonggi International Cosplay Festival in conjunction with the Bucheon International Cartoon Festival (Source: Korea Cartoon Film Promotion Agency)

[Interview/ Joon-ho Kim, Team Leader, Korea Animation Promotion Agency]

“I am preparing for the 2020 Bucheon Cartoon Grand Prize in 2019 through an online 3D exhibition. The Independent Cartoon Special Exhibition can be viewed on the festival website and Daum Webtoon. There are also interviews and exhibition introduction videos that can help you better understand the exhibition. Cartoon Artist Talk, Cartoon Master Class, ONLINE fan meeting where you can hear the stories of various cartoonists directly. You can also enjoy Cosplay at Home, where you can enjoy cosplay at home, a wise butler life with pets, and a coloring cosplay contest. In addition, you can enjoy the anime song concert, voice actor concert, and webtoon OST concert, where you can feel another attraction of cartoons, as a concert in the corner of your room. You can enjoy the cartoon festival even in the Minecraft game.”

○ Sungyong Park: There are really various programs available. By the way, can you meet the 2019 and 2020 Bucheon Cartoon Grand Prizes through a '3D exhibition'?

▶ Suyoung Park: Yes, you can get the background and content of the work, and meet the best and behind-the-scenes cuts selected by the artist. With a 3D exhibition, you can feel as if you are in the field.

○ Sungyong Park: I'm curious about the works that won the grand prizes last year and this year to be introduced this time.

▶ Suyoung Park: Last year, Lee Moo-gi's , who can think about the history of Japanese colonial rule and the pain of the nation, won the grand prize. 2020 This year, Shim Woo-do's won the grand prize. I have heard a brief impression of the award from the author Shim Heung-ah of Shim Woo-do.

▲ Site photo of the 22nd Bucheon International Cartoon Festival in 2019 (Source: Korea Cartoon Film Agency)

[Interview/ Author Shim Heung-ah of Shim Woo-do]

“Because the Bucheon Cartoon Awards is a prize that reflects the independent votes of the expert judges as well. That's why I am very honored as a Cartoon artist because it seems that you acknowledged both work and popularity. Also, I am very happy that it is an award hosted by the Korea Cartoon Film Promotion Agency, so (my work) has been recognized as a really good Cartoon.”

○ Sungyong Park: The evaluation of the expert judges and the reader's vote were reflected together. What is the content of ‘Woodoo Kerni' that captures the popularity as well as the artwork?

▶ Suyoung Park: This is a story that takes place when the author's father suffers from dementia. For more details, I'll listen to author Shim Heung-ah.

▲ Artist Shim Woo-do's work 'Small Grown-up Children'

[Interview/ Woo Doo Kenny, Shim Heung-ah by Shim Woo-do]

“The we drew this time is. The character is a writer and a couple. This is the story of the writer's couple living with a father suffering from dementia. That's a story based on our experience. We are actually working together with my husband. In the meantime, my father gets dementia and has a hard time. It's a cartoon created based on that experience. This is a cartoon where you can think about the value of family and what it is like to live."

▶ Suyoung Park: I was with you from start to finish when the series was published. It was meaningful to me, who cried a lot while watching webtoons, and became aware of ‘dementia'. Because early detection was important, I even booked a dementia test for my parents at the time.

○ Sungyong Park: It seems to be a really meaningful work for Reporter Park. It seems that the couple of writers calmly told the stories they had gone through.

▶ Suyoung Park: Yes, ‘Shim Woo-do’ is the team name of Shim Heung-ah and Woo Young-min. There were also many people who realized the importance of their family once again and were comforted by expressing the detailed emotional lines.

○ Sungyong Park: I'd love to see you too. However, in addition to this 3D exhibition, I heard that there is a cartoonist talk, a cartoon master class, and a LAN line fan meeting after listening to the Bucheon International Cartoon Festival. How does LAN fan meeting work?

▶ Suyoung Park: This online fan meeting where webtoon writers and fans can communicate with each other! For more details, I will hear from Kim Joon-ho, team leader of the Korea Animation Promotion Agency.

▲ A photo of the meeting with the artist at the 22nd Bucheon International Cartoon Festival in 2019 (Source: Korea Cartoon Film Promotion Agency)

[Interview/ Joon-ho Kim, Team Leader, Korea Animation Promotion Agency]

“The ONLINE Fan Meeting is a program where you can meet the most popular webtoon writers such as Kim Jin-seok of weak hero and writer Park Yong-je of God of High School through live streaming on YouTube. The festival is held seven times in total. On weekends, Poong Kim, announcer Yoon Tae-jin, is scheduled to host. As it is broadcast live on YouTube, fans can also participate in real-time chat by asking questions about the author directly.”

▶ Suyoung Park: You can check the authors and broadcast times participating in the 'Online Fan Meeting' on the Bucheon International Cartoon Festival website.

○ Sungyong Park: What is the program Suyoung Park reporter is most looking forward to at this Bucheon International Cartoon Festival?

▶ Suyoung Park: Personally, I am looking forward to the on September 24th at 6pm. The popular webtoon story is composed of voice actors' narration and dialogue acting. I was curious what it would be like when the video and live performance were together.

○ Sungyong Park: Right. In addition, there are various programs such as a special exhibition of independent comics and a master class where you can share stories about comics in depth. Please refer to the website of Bucheon International Cartoon Festival. Because the broadcast time was short, you only introduced this much. right?

▶ Suyoung Park: Right. Lastly, I'll wrap up this news while listening to the story of team leader Kim Joon-ho.

▲ Group site photo of the 3rd Gyeonggi International Cosplay Festival in 2019 (Source: Korea Cartoon Film Agency)

[Interview/ Joon-ho Kim, Team Leader, Korea Animation Promotion Agency]

“The Bucheon International Cartoon Festival continues for 9 days starting with the online opening ceremony on Saturday, September 19th at 2pm. Every day at 12, 2, and 6 o'clock, major contents are released through YouTube. There are more than one live every day, so it would be nice to subscribe to Bucheon International Cartoon Festival's YouTube in advance. We ask for your interest in the Bucheon International Cartoon Festival as the gift event is still going on through SNS. For detailed timetables and events, please refer to the Bucheon International Cartoon Festival website.”

▶ Suyoung Park: We ask for your interest in the 23rd “Bucheon International Cartoon Festival,” which is held for the first time online.

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