Bucheon Webtoon Convergence Center Completion Ceremony on 22nd... Declaring a 'Century Plan' Vision for the Cultural Content Industry

59 Billion Invested, 12-Story Building in Sangdong Video Culture Complex
Next Month, 80 Artists and 33 Companies to Move In First

The webtoon convergence center, which will foster the domestic comic industry, has been completed four years after groundbreaking. Bucheon City in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 19th that it has finished constructing the webtoon convergence center and its infrastructure, and will hold a completion ceremony on the 22nd.

The webtoon convergence center was built on a 9,612㎡ site within the Sang-dong Video Culture Industry Complex in Bucheon City, with a total project cost of 59 billion KRW, including 12 billion KRW in national funding. The building has three basement floors and 12 above-ground floors. The project was approved in December 2017 and construction began two years later, but the completion was delayed twice due to difficulties in procuring raw materials, finally completing after four years.

The webtoon convergence center, a large-scale comic industry cluster facility, includes creative spaces for about 200 artists and offices for around 40 comic-related companies. Starting next month, 23 teams including about 80 artists and 33 companies will move in first, led by the leading company A2Z Co., Ltd.

The Webtoon Convergence Center was built in Sang-dong Video Culture Industrial Complex, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi Province, with 3 basement floors and 12 above-ground floors.
[Photo provided by Bucheon-si]

Bucheon City plans to declare a vision for a new century of regional cultural content industry through the webtoon convergence center completion ceremony. The ceremony will feature performances of webtoon-related repertoires by the Nanum Flower Chamber Orchestra, dance performances by Bucheon University’s dance club D-SOUL, and an awards ceremony for contest-winning artists and companies.

Additionally, to celebrate and commemorate the completion of the webtoon convergence center with citizens, side events will be held from 3 p.m. on the day of the ceremony. Various attractions and experiential events such as caricatures, photo booths, media art experiences by webtoon creative companies, merchandise, and exhibitions will be available.

Furthermore, an awards ceremony will be held for the winners of the '2nd All Webtoon Contest' and the '2nd Bucheon Cultural Content Startup Contest,' both hosted by Bucheon City in July. The city plans to sign business agreements with five winning companies that have confirmed their move-in on the day.

Jo Yong-ik, mayor of Bucheon City, stated, "The future growth engine and new growth driver of Bucheon is the cultural content industry," adding, "We plan to intensively nurture creative talents and core strategic companies with the completion of the webtoon convergence center."