The 2015 Seoul Character & Licensing Fair will kick off next month, newly equipped with a “Kidult” zone for older character enthusiasts, as organizers seek to expand the event’s scope to attract not only children, but also adults and families.



Co-organized by the Korea Creative Content Agency and Coex and sponsored by the Culture Ministry, the fair will take place from Dec. 16-20 across three exhibition halls inside Coex, showcasing some 798 booths operated by 292 participating character firms and related organizations.



“We made an effort to establish this year’s character fair as a festival to be enjoyed by not just kids, but adults and families,” KOCCA vice president and chief operating officer Kim Young-chul told reporters during a press meeting held in Seoul on Thursday.The newly created Kidult zone will showcase around 50 character toys from 20 brands particularly loved by adults, including “The Avengers” and the “Turning Mecard” transforming toy robot series, according to KOCCA.As toys are highly related to character merchandising, KOCCA said it decided to expand the presence of character-based toys at this year’s event, the biggest edition to date in terms of scale.Moreover, the upcoming fair will take on a general “holiday theme” as it is being held in December for the first time ever. The event was rescheduled from July, when it had always been held before, to December this year, due to the Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome outbreak in South Korea.General admission is priced at 8,000 won ($7) for adults, 6,000 won for middle and high school students and 4,000 won for kindergarteners and elementary school students. For more information, visit www.characterfair.kr.By Sohn Ji-young ( jys@heraldcorp.com