Songpa-gu Characters Haha and Hoho Advance to Finals of the 6th Our Neighborhood Character Awards

Online Voting for Finals Available Until October 20... 'Certification Shot' Event Also Underway

Songpa-gu (Mayor Seo Gang-seok) announced that the district's representative characters, ‘Haha, Hoho,’ have advanced to the finals of the national character competition, the ‘6th Our Neighborhood Character Awards.’

The ‘Our Neighborhood Character Awards’ is a contest hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and organized by the Korea Creative Content Agency. It widely introduces characters that promote local government and public institution policies and festivals in a friendly and entertaining way, selecting the best regional and public characters.

On January 1st of this year, the district developed an urban brand reflecting Songpa-gu’s identity and newly introduced the CI shaped like a pine tree and the characters ‘Haha·Hoho,’ which tell the story of the Olympic city.

Songpa-gu’s characters ‘Haha, Hoho’ passed the first expert screening last month and were selected as one of the 30 finalists. The final winners will be chosen through a public vote held until October 20th, with a total of 10 characters selected. The grand prize-winning institution will receive a prize of 10 million won.

‘Haha, Hoho’ are baby angels protecting Songpa-gu, representing the district by incorporating the story of Songpa-gu, the host city of the 1988 Seoul Olympics. They are used in various district promotions, including the release of tourism souvenirs such as eco-bags and grip-toks, as well as character costumes, mobile phone emoticons, and event photo zones. Their lively charm and cute appearance have won much love from the residents.

During the voting period, the district will also hold a ‘certification shot’ event. By following Songpa-gu’s SNS and submitting a voting certification shot via a Naver form, a total of 300 people will be selected by lottery to receive various prizes. Detailed information can be found on Songpa-gu’s blog or Instagram.

Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, “We developed new characters that tell the historical story of the host city of the 1988 Seoul Olympics by listening to the opinions of the residents.” He added, “Especially, we ask for the enthusiastic support of all residents so that ‘Haha·Hoho,’ who are loved by everyone from children to the elderly, can achieve good results in this competition.”

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