Enjoy the Heat for Free at 'Character Licensing Fair' & 'Board Game Con'

[Financial News] The nation's largest content intellectual property (IP) licensing festival, 'Character Licensing Fair 2025', will be held from the 17th to the 20th at Coex A Hall and B1 Hall in Samseong-dong, Seoul. The event, hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and co-organized by the Korea Creative Content Agency and Coex, marks its 24th edition this year, encompassing the present and future of the content IP industry.
The Character Licensing Fair, under the theme 'Meet: Content IP', is expected to be a venue for exchanges connecting various generations and industries. Buyers from 9 countries will also participate to explore business cooperation possibilities based on content intellectual property (IP).
Especially this year, it will be held simultaneously with 'Board Game Con 2025', expanding into a comprehensive content festival that includes game content. The conference 'Licensing Con 2025', which shares the latest trends and success stories in the content intellectual property industry, will also be held, providing insights among domestic and international experts.
'The Character Licensing Fair' will open all exhibition areas for free again this year, following last year. A performance and fan meeting program by the appointed ambassador girl group 'Le Sserafim' will also be prepared, becoming a cultural experience venue for all generations.
This year, it will operate with a total of 510 booths. △Choirock Contents Company, known for 'Turning Mecard God', △Iconix, well-known for 'Jjangman Loopy' and 'Tayo the Little Bus', among other leading domestic character intellectual property holding companies, will participate in large numbers. △Popular emoticon character 'Ganadi' licensed by H&F, △Shinhan Bank's representative character 'Shinhan Friends', △Mobile game 'Cats & Soup' by Neowiz subsidiary HIDEA, △Soundwave's K-pop idol IVE character 'Minive', and other characters active in various industry sectors and platforms will participate, presenting the expandability and convergence potential of content intellectual property.
Various special exhibition halls will also be prepared. △'Hallyu IP Hall' showcasing the overseas expansion capabilities of domestic content, △'New Character IP Promotion Hall' introducing creative characters from new creation companies, △'Build-Up Planning Hall' presenting a co-growth cooperation model between related industry companies like Lock&Lock, KORAIL Distribution, Seoul Land, and small content companies will be operated.
△'Rookie Project' concentrating fresh ideas from 30 new creators, △'Toy Workshop' delivering the value of emotional healing by repairing broken toys, and other various environmental, social, and transparent management (ESG) programs will be presented in the 'ESG Hall'.
To derive substantial business outcomes from content intellectual property, a newly introduced advanced business linkage program 'Business Connecting' will be implemented at this event. It is expected to actively attract domestic and international buyers, promoting various forms of collaboration such as licensing contracts, content partnerships, joint development, and distribution linkage. 

The nation's largest board game event 'Board Game Con 2025', hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and co-organized by the Korea Creative Content Agency and the Korea Board Game Industry Association, will also be held in conjunction. A total of 230 board game booths will be operated, showcasing a variety of programs including exhibitions, board game experience zones, creator zones, board game competitions, domestic and international expert lectures, and YouTube live broadcasts.
The experience zone will feature not only popular domestic works such as 'Coffee Rush', 'Master of Skewers', and 'Okidoki Expedition', but also board games based on mobile game intellectual properties like 'Cookie Run' and 'Pokémon', and famous international works like 'Rummikub' and 'Splendor', allowing visitors to experience over 600 board games. Along with this, competitions in 12 categories will be held, providing various participation opportunities.
In the creator zone, new board games planned and developed by 1 university board game club and 20 board game creators will be unveiled. It is expected to serve as an opportunity to gauge the content diversity of the domestic board game industry and the growth potential of the creative ecosystem.
During the event period, a lecture program involving domestic and international board game experts will be operated, providing the latest information and insights to general visitors and industry stakeholders interested in the board game industry. 
Hyun-Seok Yoo, Acting President of the Korea Creative Content Agency, said, “This event is a special stage where all generations who love characters and games can enjoy and interact together,” adding, “The Korea Creative Content Agency will actively support the spread of content intellectual property (IP) in daily life and inter-industry linkage, and based on this, will continuously foster the global expansion potential of K-content.”
Meanwhile, 'Licensing Con 2025' is the nation's largest business conference based on intellectual property (IP), and this year, under the theme 'Expand: Content IP', it will be held on the 17th-18th at Coex Conference Room E5, E6 in Samseong-dong, Seoul. Speakers from 6 countries will participate to share strategies for industrial expansion of content intellectual property and explore cooperation possibilities and growth drivers in the global market.

jashin@fnnews.com Shin Jin-a Reporter