President Park Geun-hye visited the “Huh Young-man: The Secret of Creations” exhibition currently underway at the Seoul Arts Center on May 27, this month's officially designated "Culture Day.”

President Park browsed a collection of drawings and sketches that artist Huh Young-man has created over the past 40 years, giving words of encouragement to him and expressing her gratitude to the artist for having provided delight for his fans with his outstanding and creative works of art.

Huh has long been lauded here as one of the most beloved cartoonists. He made his debut with “Bridal Mask” in 1974, which was a huge hit. He then continued to release other hits, including “Fly! Super Board,” “Grand Chef” and “The Hidden Card,” to name just a few. Some of his graphic novels have been turned into animated films, soap operas and movies, which, too, enjoyed great popularity.

After a tour of the exhibition, the president chatted with people involved in the cartoon industry. During the discussion, she called for more support to foster a creator-centered environment in the industry and also to help more artists enter overseas markets.

She also asked for more investment, in particular, in online cartoons, known as "webtoons," which she described as a new engine of growth for the business. “As related businesses like 'webtoons' expand their presence in the graphic arts industry, more government aid to extend their business abroad is needed,” she said.

In addition, the president said that support such as funds for cartoon translation and bans against illegal distribution and copyright infringement would further back growth as the cartoon industry, based on its artists' imagination and use of technology, has great potential on the global scene.

“We now live in an era of content. Cartoons and graphic novels are a good example of, ‘one source, multi use,’ products,” President Park said. “We can derive countless content from just one pane of one cartoon, turning it into everything from movies to soap operas or animated films. The government will give more funds to the industry so as to help cultivate a wider variety of content,” she added.




By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Cheong Wa Dae
jiae5853@korea.kr