An exhibit center featuring Korean comic books, graphic novels and animation opened late last month in Yantai (烟台), Shandong Province, China. The China-Korea Cartoon Experience Center was jointly established by the governments of Yantai City and of Bucheon City in Korea, a center of animation and graphic arts.

The 800-square-meter building is situated in an industrial complex in Yantai, on the north coast of the Shandong Peninsula. It's equipped with various digital media facilities, such as large video screens, media walls, and digital sketchbooks. These allow visitors to not only watch, but also to draw and to create their own comic strips and animations. The center features a total of 56 Korean comics and cartoons, including one cartoon printed in a newspaper in the early 1900s. There are popular comic strips like “Dooly, the Little Dinosaur,” TV cartoons like “Pororo, the Little Penguin,” and online comic strips like “The Girl Who Sees Smells.” By appreciating these works, visitors can learn more about the history of Korean graphics and animation.

The center plans to continue to show new, updated graphic and animated content. It will serve as a business center for content-related organizations and firms, both from Korea and China, helping to contribute to expanding opportunities for the creation of joint content between animators and artists in the two countries.

Bucheon and Yantai have been working together to establish the comic book center ever since the two cities signed a cooperation agreement to promote exchanges in the graphic and animation industries in April last year. The two cities also agreed to boost exchanges among cartoonists and animators from the two regions.

Yantai Mayor Zhang Yongxia said that he hopes Yantai can share Bucheon’s advanced technical knowhow in the animation industry and develop more extended exchanges across the whole graphic and visual art sectors. Mayor Zhang said that the newly opened center will become a starting point to bolster exchanges and joint projects in graphics, animations and visual arts between Korea and China.

Bucheon Mayor Kim Man-soo said that he hopes the newly opened center can help the Korean cartoon and animation sectors produce fruitful outcomes in the future.

By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Bucheon City, Korea Manhwa Contents Agency
arete@korea.kr