Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City Selected for the "Regional-Based Webtoon Artist Training Project" — Poised to Lead the Next Generation of the Webtoon Industry

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The Busan Metropolitan City announced that the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency (hereafter "the Promotion Agency") has been selected for the "Regional-Based Webtoon Artist Training Project," organized by the Korea Creative Content Agency, securing 150 million KRW in national funding.

• ●The project supports platform institutions with both human and physical infrastructure for webtoon education at the regional level.

• ●The Promotion Agency, which operates the Global Webtoon Center in Busan, was selected as the regional platform for this initiative.

• ●Using the secured funding, Busan plans to focus on cultivating new webtoon artists who will drive the local industry, while also implementing diverse programs aimed at expanding success into both domestic and overseas markets.

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Over the years, Busan has been actively nurturing its webtoon industry by focusing on three key areas:
▲ Expanding the infrastructure centered around the Busan Global Webtoon Center
▲ Promoting the commercialization and public engagement of webtoons
▲ Fostering and discovering creative talent.

• ●Since opening the nation's first Global Webtoon Center in 2017, Busan has supported the webtoon industry through:
  ▲ Operating creative support spaces for webtoon artists
  ▲ Hosting webtoon exhibitions and experience programs
  ▲ Providing creation support grants
  ▲ Organizing the Busan Global Webtoon Festival
  ▲ Producing Busan brand webtoons
  ▲ Facilitating international exchanges.

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With this new project selection, the city and the Promotion Agency aim to further strengthen Busan’s webtoon industry by:

• ●Offering customized mentoring programs for aspiring webtoon artists

• ●Providing market expansion support, including business consultations with webtoon companies

• ●Supporting participation in both domestic and international exhibitions

• ●Assisting in continued creative activities beyond the program year.

• ●This achievement reflects the Promotion Agency’s long-term efforts in operating a regional webtoon campus since 2019, contributing to the development of professional webtoon talent and expanding the local ecosystem.

• ●The project will include:
  ▲ Mentor composition (professional webtoon PDs or artists)
  ▲ Recruitment of aspiring webtoon artists (10 or more trainees)
  ▲ Tailored mentoring and professional skills development training, including the production of at least three webtoon episodes
  ▲ Group training using AI technologies for webtoon creation
  ▲ Business matching and exhibition support to facilitate domestic and international market entry
  ▲ Continued support for creative activities into the following year.

Recruitment for participating trainees will begin in early May via the Promotion Agency’s official website (www.busanit.or.kr), and full-scale mentoring programs are scheduled to commence in June.

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Jo Yu-jang, Director-General of Busan’s Culture Bureau, stated,
"Through this project, we aim to discover outstanding local webtoon artists and foster the professional talent that will lead the next generation of the webtoon industry.
As webtoons rapidly grow as a new powerhouse in the content industry, we will continue our efforts to make Busan a key hub for webtoon culture and development."