Hanoi (VNA) – The Republic of Korea (RoK) is interested in Vietnam's webtoon and animation market, according to the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA).

Speaking in a business connection activity - the 2nd online biz-matching meeting 2023 took place from August 8-9, KOCCA representatives in Vietnam said they hope to create connections with Vietnamese companies, promote cooperation, and help Korean businesses enter the Vietnamese market. Webtoon is a genre of webcomics, published online on the internet. The RoK is considered the place where webtoon was born, and has gone on to flourish now. Some famous webtoons have been adapted into dramas and gained a lot of attention. Those include "All of Us Are Dead" (2022), "Hell Bound" (2021), and "Sweet Home" (2020). They were all produced by Netflix and are widely watched by international audiences on the platform. Experts recognise these as highly rated IPs (Intellectual Property). At the online meeting, enterprises from the two countries mainly discussed webtoon exchange, production cooperation, and IP trading. In Vietnam, the webtoon is just in its beginning stages. Therefore, the RoK expressed great interest in this market, according to the event organiser. Director of the KOCCA Vietnam Hong Jeong Yong said that to support content producers in RoK, the agency has to expand the network of buyers in Vietnam and support content creators in both countries to operate effectively when investing in Vietnam. A total of 23 businesses attended the meeting. Vietnamese content creators and filmmakers also showed interest in webtoon. Charlie Nguyen, director of the box office hits “De mai tinh (Fool for Love) and “Em chua 18” (Jailbait) also recognised the influence of Korean webtoons on the Vietnamese market and other countries and territories such as Malaysia, India, and Taiwan (China). He hopes the two countries will have further cooperation in this field. In September, KOCCA will continue to organise similar business connection meetings with Vietnamese companies about video games and fantasy, creative characters. The Korean side will include game developers and distributors while the Vietnamese side will include distributors and those that have interest in related issues. Earlier, in May, KOCCA Vietnam conducted the 1st biz-matching meeting on content creation that attracted more than 40 businesses from the two countries./. Box: KOCCA Vietnam Director Hong Jeong Yong appreciated Vietnamese cultural and historical values. He said they are the foundation to create interesting content for the cultural industry. He also acknowledged that Vietnam has advantages thanks to its fast-growing economy and technological infrastructure. He suggested the Vietnamese Government build a clearer legal framework to further encourage content creators, and protect copyright work. It will pave the way for the country’s cultural industries to net revenue that accounts for 7% of GDP. KOCCA is an agency under the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism that was founded in May 2009 to promote and expand the Korean content sector. In October 2020, KOCCA opened a representative office in Vietnam. Since its arrival in Vietnam, KOCCA has mostly arranged online activities, such as business contacts, animation contests, and K-pop concerts, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic./.