Global webtoon company Kenazu-Ono Korea to set up shop in Suncheon
Suncheon City (Mayor Noh Kwan-kyu) announced on the 3rd that it has simultaneously attracted the headquarters of webtoon company KENAZ and the Korean branch of Korean-French joint venture Ono Korea as the first and second companies that will be the first sign of fostering the cultural content industry, a key issue in the 8th civil election.
At the 2024 Global Content Festival in Suncheon, held on the 3rd, representatives of the two companies that will relocate their headquarters to Suncheon signed a webtoon agreement at a ceremony to announce the relocation of KENAZ-Ono Korea.(Photo: Suncheon City)
The attraction is a follow-up to the \'Suncheon City-Kenazu-France Ono\' business agreement signed in Annecy, France in June, and is the result of a \'trifecta\' of the city\'s steady efforts to attract companies, the needs of companies and writers who highly recognized the potential of Suncheon.
At the \'2024 Global Content Festival in Suncheon\' event on March 3, the city announced the relocation of the headquarters with the participation of the Suncheon City Council and officials from both companies, and declared the future vision that Kennaz and Suncheon City will create together.
After the animation and webtoon cluster project passed the central investment review of the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government Finance last month, the attraction of the headquarters of the two companies is expected to further accelerate the completion of K-Disney Suncheon, which Suncheon City has presented as its future vision.
First, the Korean branch of Ono Korea, a joint venture between Kenaz and Ono, a subsidiary of French media content group MPP, will relocate to Suncheon by the end of the year from its headquarters in Seoul. The initial start-up team will be five people, with plans to expand to 20 people in stages.
Kennaz, which has more than 450 webtoon writers and 250 IPs in Korea and abroad, will also relocate its headquarters and webtoon production bases currently located in Jeju Island and Seoul in stages by the first half of 2025. A total of 50 employees will be relocated.
Once the relocation of the headquarters is finalized, various cooperative projects in the webtoon field, such as global webtoon production and distribution and a talent training academy, will be promoted in Suncheon together with Suncheon City and Ono Korea.
\"One of the most favored careers for our children is the cultural content industry, such as webtoons and animation,\" said Noh Kwan-kyu, mayor of Suncheon City. \"We will actively support Kenaz and Ono Korea, which are moving their headquarters to Suncheon, to grow into solid local and global companies.\"
\"Kenazu is the largest webtoon company in the world, and more than 450 writers have chosen Suncheon,\" said Lee Woo-jae, CEO of Kenazu. \"We would like to move our headquarters to Suncheon and contribute to making Suncheon a global webtoon mecca.\"
\"Ono is a media group that has been producing manga, webtoons, and anime in France for the past 50 years, and French readers have recently begun to take an interest in Korean webtoons,\" said Ainara Ipas, representative of Ono France. \"With the support of Suncheon City and the Suncheon City Council, we hope to spread Korean webtoons to European readers and have the opportunity to meet Korean readers.\"
Starting with this webtoon company, the city plans to actively attract 30 animation and webtoon companies that have expressed their intention to relocate to Suncheon. The city also plans to expand its efforts to attract content companies in various fields such as games, video, and AI.
In addition, the city plans to build a virtuous cycle ecosystem by supporting relocated companies to settle and grow in the region, and resettled companies to recruit local talent to make Suncheon a global cultural industry mecca.
[Straight News /Jeonnam=Baekhyung Lee]
Copyright © Straight News All Rights Reserved
Source : Straight News (https://www.straightnews.co.kr)
