The Bucheon International Comics Festival (BICOF) is set to kick off in early October in Bucheon, a suburb west of Seoul, showcasing a diverse array of Korean comics, which have become a significant part of the country’s cultural exports. The 27th annual festival, themed “Manhwa! Wide Open,” will run from October 3-6, offering various programs that allow comic enthusiasts to interact with renowned creators. “Manhwa” is the Korean term for comics.

Webtoon creators Seo I-reh and Namon, whose work “Jeong Nyeon” won the Grand Prize at this year’s Bucheon Comics Awards, along with rookie award winners Noh Gyeong-mu and Sokee of the comic “How To Get Your Man Pregnant,” will engage with readers, among others.

The BICOF will also feature talks by Italian comic artist Tanino Liberatore, known for “Lucy L’Espoir,” and Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, creator of the graphic novel “Grass.” Notably, the festival will revive its comics market for the first time since 2018, aiming to promote the intellectual property of Korean comics to the global market.

“The international comics market has been revived,” said Shin Jong-chul, president of the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency. “I can confidently say global interest in Korean comics is exceptionally high, to the point where they are becoming central to Korean cultural products.”

Additionally, the festival will feature a special comics exhibition to mark the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Italy. Officials from Napoli Comicon, the annual Italian comics festival, will be in attendance, and Italian author and illustrator Tanino Liberatore, renowned for RanXerox, will also hold a live drawing session. 

Sayart / Amia Nguyen, amyngwyen13@gmail.com