[FOCUS] Popular animated penguin Pororo infiltrates into North Korea (expanded version)

By Park Sae-jin Posted : October 21, 2016, 13:20 Updated : October 21, 2016, 17:10

A TV-captured image shows a North Korean woman holding a Pororo character toy at a shopping mall for children in Pyongyang. [Yonhap News Photo]


Pororo, a cute animated penguin who dreams of flying and plays around with his friends, is one of South Korea’s greatest cultural exports, bringing joy to children all over the world.

The wildly popular animated penguin from children's TV series "Pororo the Little Penguin" is now omnipresent, reaching and appealing to global users without borders.

And it has finally infiltrated into the world's most reclusive country which has tightly restricted an inflow of any foreign culture, especially from South Korea, because the two sides are still technically at war with no peace treaty signed after the 1950-53 Korean War.

North Korea's state TV station showed a mother holding a Pororo character toy in a playground at Pyongyang's department store for children on Thursday.

It's the second time Pororo has appeared in a North Korean TV program, according to the South's Yonhap news agency which monitors the communist country's state media. In March 2014, children were reportedly seen playing with a slide decorated with Pororo characters in a Pyongyang kindergarten.

Favorite characters in the Pororo episodes have gained global popularity. They are cute enough to be loved by North Korean children who are subject to consistent brainwashing and ideological education from cradle to grave.

However, North Korea has apparently violated a copyright, according to South Korea's famous animation developer Iconix Entertainment that produced the mega-hit Pororo series.

"We have no licensing deal with North Korea," Park Gyu-hwan, the general manager of Iconix' business development division, told Aju News. "We're not aware of such a situation in the North, and we may have to find out what's going on there."

Park said his company should check any possible third-party deals on the use and production of Pororo-related items. So far the animated cartoon series have been exported to 130 countries, not to North Korea, he said.

Iconix said North Korean animators had been involved in 12 episodes of the first season and six episodes of the second season that were made before 2005 under an OEM (original equipment manufacturing) deal.

"The North's 3D animation industry is competitive enough to match our technology and skills," Park said, referring to North Korea's accumulated experience in the production of animation and cartoons.

Experts say North Korea's state-run studios, including Samcholli which used to be a Pororo partner, have long been subcontracted by Japanese and European companies. South Korean companies have also worked with them on animated television series.

Iconix, however, discontinued cooperation with North Korean studios in 2005 due to non-technical problems caused by tight restrictions on cross-border communications and exchanges.

"Originally, North Korean partners were to produce all 22 episodes of the first season, but their work speed was too slow and could not meet our deadline. So they only produced a limited number of episodes," Park said.  

Aju News Park Sae-jin and Lim Chang-won
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