Gwangjin-gu Characters Gwang-i and Jin-i Win Encouragement Award at the Korea Character Awards

Achieving Commendation Award in First Participation... The Only Autonomous District in Seoul City

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Seon-gap)'s SNS characters ‘Gwang-i and Jin-i’ won the Encouragement Award in the regional category at the ‘2020 Korea Regional and Public Character Awards’ ceremony held on the 23rd at the CKL Enterprise Support Center.

Hosted and organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency, this competition was established to select outstanding characters from local governments and public institutions nationwide, strengthen the promotional brand of regional and public policies, and revitalize the character industry.

This year’s competition first held a preliminary round in August, consisting of online voting and expert evaluation, through which a total of 16 local government characters advanced to the finals in the regional category.

The final judging held this month was conducted through public online voting, and the winners were determined based on the voting results.

The district characters ‘Gwang-i and Jin-i’ were highly evaluated for planning, design, and usability, earning the honor of receiving the Encouragement Award. Notably, this award is the only one among Seoul’s autonomous districts.

With this award, the district will receive prize money along with special benefits such as expert consulting, promotional support, and character goods production.

Mayor Kim Seon-gap said, “I would like to express my gratitude to the residents who showed great interest and support so that Gwang-i and Jin-i could win this award,” and added, “Please continue to have high expectations for Gwang-i and Jin-i, who will actively represent Gwangjin-gu.”

Selected through a nationwide contest in February this year, the ‘Gwang-i and Jin-i’ characters are being used in various ways for online and offline district promotion, including Gwangjin-gu’s official SNS, the district promotional webtoon Gwangjin Hope Toon, and policy promotional materials.

Last May, 20,000 residents who became friends with Gwangjin-gu Office’s KakaoTalk Plus Friend received Gwang-i and Jin-i emoticons on a first-come, first-served basis, which were all distributed within 20 minutes.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.