A massive crowd flocked to a Pokémon pop-up store set up in Busan.

Beginning as a game released in 1996 and expanding into animation and character merchandise, Pokémon is cited as a prime example of successfully extending a single piece of content into various business sectors.

Various domestic attempts are also underway to foster global intellectual properties, or IPs, similar to Pokémon.

K-pop stars are actively rolling out merchandise alongside digital and physical music releases.

[Park Sang-wook / Gwanak-gu, Seoul: I already own all the dolls, but hearing that several new types of merchandise were coming out made me rush right over.]

Domestic animation characters like Pororo, Baby Shark, and Catch! Teenieping are expanding beyond goods into experiential industries such as performances and exhibitions.

Low-budget content, including social media webtoons, has also been gaining spotlight in the recent IP industry.

Starting from emoticons, they are knocking on overseas doors by joining hands with various industries such as cosmetics, food, and stationery.

[Park Mi-na / Director at a licensing company: (In the IP industry) there used to be a notion that an animation had to exist first, but now it seems there is a fandom that simply follows what they love.]

[Heo Ji-an / Seodaemun-gu, Seoul: After a exhausting day, I can heal by looking at things like Instagram webtoons, and because characters like dogs and cats give that kind of emotional touch...]

While South Korea's content market size has risen to 8th in the world, the content IP industry remains at 17th.

To boost competitiveness in the global content IP market, which reaches the 1.2 quadrillion won range, the government is supporting collaborations between small and medium-sized content creators and large distribution and manufacturing companies, while also carrying out networking reinforcement projects.

Given that the content IP industry requires large-scale capital, a co-investment system that considers IP expansion from the planning stage seems necessary, akin to Japan's "production committee" system that made the production of the animated film "Demon Slayer" possible.

"Following the Fandom of One's 'Ultimate Bias' Character... Seize the 1 Trillion Won Market" (August 1, 2026, 8 News)

Reported by Kim Kyung-hee | Written by Bae Jun-휘 | Camera Action by Jeon Jae-hyun (KNN) | Video Editing by Shin Se-eun | Design by Seo Seung-hyun | VJ: Oh Se-gwan | Produced by SBS Digital News