Character Licensing Fair 2026 to showcase K-characters and industry collaborations

This year's Character Licensing Fair will take place from Thursday to July 19 to showcase the growing potential of Korea's character and intellectual property (IP) industry.

The fair, hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, will take place at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul. This year's event will focus on how characters are integrated into sectors such as retail, finance and gaming to create new business opportunities.

Featured characters include: Esther Bunny by Kvision; Ganadi by HNF; Zanmang Loopy by Iconix; Shinhan Friends by Shinhan Bank; the characters from Neowiz's mobile game “Cats & Soup”; and remini, the official character of the girl group Rescene created by Allabo-x. The group will also perform at the opening ceremony on Thursday.

The fair will feature several themed sections, including a pavilion showcasing collaborations between content IP and related industries. Another pavilion will highlight Korean IP with overseas market potential. A special animation pavilion will introduce notable Korean animated works.

Business matching programs connecting participating companies with domestic and international buyers will also take place throughout the fair. Last year's program attracted 388 overseas buyers from 16 countries, resulting in 1,178 business consultations.

The fair will take place alongside Board Game Con 2026, and allow visitors to experience a wider range of content in a single venue.

“Characters play a key role in expanding content intellectual property into related industries such as retail and games,” said Kim Kyung-hwa, director-general for cultural industry policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

“The ministry will support the Character Licensing Fair so that it serves as a practical business platform for our content intellectual property companies that seek to commercialize and expand overseas.”

BY LEE TAE-HEE [[email protected]]