Cultivation of human resources for cultural contents industry, such as cartoons, animations, games, etc.

Kyungil University (President Hyun Tae Chung) announced that the University has opened the only “Webtoon Studio” in Daegu and Gyeongbuk as it has established the Department of Cartoon and Animation and accepted its first freshman students this year.

In the studio, there are about 50 Cintiq Tablet PCs needed to create webtoons. The budget of 300 million won was invested in the creation of the webtoon studio, and a webtoon studio with the scale of this size is the only one in Daegu and Gyeongbuk. In the studio, Kyungil University students of the Department of Cartoon and Animation, who are admitted through a high competition of 20 to 1, will learn basics of drawing and actual production using drawing softwares and the Cintiq tablets which real writers use.

Professor Kim Ho-kwon of the department said, “The Department of Cartoon and Animation has set up the cartoon and webtoon track and the animation and VFX (special effect) track, and current webtoon writers and practical professors who have studied overseas teach students. The students will learn about Webtoon planning and production, movie special effects, CG technology and expressive power.” Kim continued, “In the future, the department will establish a new game track, invite the best professionals as professors to expand its recruitment number, and develop into a large department that includes comics, webtoons, animation, and games.”

Kyungil University invited Won Hyun-jae abd Seo Jae-il, who are currently working as Naver Webtoon writer, when deciding to establish the Department of Cartoon and Animation. Professor Won debuted with Naver webtoon ‘Santa's Big Battle’ and is presently working on ‘Space Chinatown’ as well as on other webtoons and books. Professor Seo has serialized Naver webtoon ‘Larra Fal Lover’ and ‘Dawn 9.’ These two professors teach such subjects as <Drawing of Webtoon>, <Drawing Foundation>, <Character Design>, and <Manga Reading>. On the other hand, Professor Kim Ho-kwon majored in 3D animation and VFX (special effects) in the US and has worked in a local company there. Professor Ryu Ji-heon completed his degree in 2D graphics and branding in the US.

President Hyun Tae Chung said, “Based on the webtoon, we will extend the studio to all cultural contents, such as cartoons, animations, games, and videos, and help Daegu and Gyeongbuk grow into a leading city of cultural contents industry centered on the Department of Cartoon and Animation.”