Annual Bucheon International Comics Festival to be held this week

The Bucheon International Comics Festival is Korea's largest annual comic book festival and has been running for more than 20 years. This year's event starts on Aug. 14 and runs through Aug. 18 at the Korea Manhwa Museum and Bucheon Visual Culture Complex. Courtesy of Bucheon International Comics Festival (BICOF)

By Anna J. Park

Korea's largest annual comic book festival will kick off its five-day event this week. Starting Wednesday, this year's Bucheon International Comics Festival will be held till Sunday at the Korean Manhwa Museum and Bucheon Visual Culture Complex in the city of Bucheon, southwest of Seoul.

Marking the 22nd installment of the festival, diverse events and exhibitions are scheduled to take place under the theme "Connected by Comics." The festival organizers hope to emphasize the role of comics or "manhwa" in Korean, which can captivate anyone regardless of generation, nationality, social position or gender.

This year's comic book festival will be held for five days from Aug. 14 to 18 on the theme of "Connected by Comics." The photo was taken from last year's comic book festival. Courtesy of Bucheon International Comics Festival (BICOF)

Two major special exhibitions will be displayed at the festival. The first special exhibition is on "Labor and Manwha (comics)," featuring comic book writer Choi Gyu-seok's popular work "Songgot" (meaning "the drill" in Korean) on the 3rd floor of the Korea Manhwa Museum. Visitors can closely look at the drawings of characters, the author's illustration works and more. The exhibition will continue, even after the end of the annual festival on Aug. 18, until Oct. 13. The comic book "Songgot" is a readable story about a labor union worker with warm-hearted humor and conveys the social messages of human dignity and values of workers and labor. The comic is the grand prize winner of last year's Bucheon Manhwa Award.

Another exhibition is about "Peace on the Korean Peninsula: Connecting Peace" and will display various original drawings on the topic of peace by local and international comic artists. The second special exhibition will be held on the museum's first floor, and will also continue until Oct. 13. The cartoonists hope to deliver a message of peace through their art and promote inter-Korean peace, peace talks and the peace process on the Korean peninsula.

Two special exhibitions on the topics of "Labor and Comics" and "Peace on the Korean Peninsula" will display original drawings and illustrations by various comic book writers and webtoon artists from both in and outside of Korea. The two exhibitions, held at the Korea Manhwa Museum, will run through from Aug. 14 to Oct. 13. The photo was taken at last year's comic book festival. Courtesy of Bucheon International Comics Festival (BICOF)

Many popular comic book writers and webtoon artists, including Choi Gyu-seok, Shim Heung-ah, Wanana and Guichan, will meet their fans at events planned throughout the five-day festival. The Korea International Cartoon Market (KICOM) is also slated to be held during the festival, as the international festival attracts not only local comic creators and fans, but also overseas related-industries' companies and agencies with an aim to further introduce the charm of Korean comics to the global stage.

Seminar sessions like "Peace on the Korean Peninsula ― the South and the North and comics" and costume performance contests, as well as the Cosplay Championship International Finals will also be held on the sidelines of the annual event. Visit bicof.com for more detailed schedules and information.

The photo was taken from last year's Bucheon International Comics Festival. This year's five-day event begins Aug. 14. Courtesy of Bucheon International Comics Festival (BICOF)

Site Map E-paper Subscribe Register LogIn
Site Map E-paper Subscribe Register LogIn