Cheer with Your Vote! BPA 'Haebeomi and Ppupupu' Advance to Public Character Awards Finals

National Communication Characters 'Haebeomi and Ppuppu'

Various Initiatives to Widely Promote Busan Port

Busan Port Authority (BPA) announced on the 29th that its official characters, ‘Haebeomi and Bboobboo,’ have advanced to the finals of the ‘2024 Korea Local Government and Public Character Festival Grand Prize Contest.’

Character Contest Promotional Poster.

Organized by the Korea Culture Content Licensing Association and Daejeon Tourism Organization, this contest selects award winners through expert judging (preliminary round) and nationwide online voting (final round) for characters (mascots) created by government, local governments, and public institutions to promote policies, regions, festivals, and more.

The winning entries will have the opportunity to meet and interact directly with the public at the Daejeon Content Fair event in mid-November.

‘Haebeomi and Bboobboo,’ inspired by the shape of an orca, play a significant role in changing the perception of ports as inaccessible, closed, and rigid, while instilling a lovable and friendly image of Busan Port Authority.

Marking its 20th anniversary this year, BPA’s commemorative KakaoTalk emoticons titled ‘Haebeomi and Bboobboo’s Wise Workplace Life’ were distributed and sold out within about 10 minutes, receiving great support from the public.

BPA also contributes to revitalizing the local economy by producing character goods in collaboration with social enterprises and small businesses involved in industry-academia cooperation.

The nationwide online voting for the finalist characters will be held from October 28 to November 11 on the contest’s official website, open to all citizens. Voters can enter a prize draw by submitting a voting confirmation screen through BPA’s official Instagram.

Kang Jun-seok, President of BPA, said, “I hope our organization’s characters winning in this contest will provide an opportunity to become more widely known,” adding, “We will continue to promote the charm of Busan Port through various character marketing efforts and contribute to revitalizing the local economy.”

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