Lotte Department Store said on the 16th that it will host the "2025 World Webtoon Festival" in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA). It is the largest webtoon event in Korea, with more than 200 webtoon IPs (intellectual property) participating.
At the "Lotte World Mall pop-up" within this event, merchandise from 35 popular webtoons will be unveiled simultaneously. From the 16th to the 26th, 11 pop-up spaces will be set up across five floors from basement level one to the fourth floor of Lotte World Mall, showcasing more than 1,200 kinds of IP-themed merchandise.
At the popup for Naver Webtoon's popular IP "Maru Is a Doggo," a bakery-cafe concept will feature more than 100 kinds of merchandise, as well as collaboration items with popular brands such as Uniqlo, SPAO, and Vivian. At the popup for "Lookism," which has surpassed 10 billion cumulative global views, an arcade game concept will showcase a total of 700 items, including more than 90 first-release products.
At the popup for "Omniscient Reader," an F&B concept will be applied for the first time to present specially planned confections, beverages, and tumblers. At the popup for "How to Hide the Emperor's Child," an exclusive package that includes posters, talismans, and memos made using the IP of Lotte Tower will be unveiled among more than 30 kinds of merchandise. In addition, special items making their first or limited-time appearance at this popup will be presented in variety, including first editions of print volumes from "The Remarried Empress," "Solo Leveling," and "Tomb Raider King," as well as a Chipotle collaboration plan.
At Lotte World and Lotte Cinema World Tower, "official exhibitions and hands-on programs" that will excite webtoon fans will run from the 19th to the 22nd. Centered on a "webtoon planning exhibition" at the Lotte World ice rink that traces the chronology of webtoons from their origins to the present and future, events will include a webtoon author "live drawing show," a "live dubbing show" by popular voice actor Nam Do-hyeong, and a signing event by author Gwangjin, who wrote "The Great" and "Itaewon Class."
In Auditorium 8 at Lotte Cinema World Tower, there will be a "talk concert" featuring authors Han Dong-woo and Ko Jin-ho of the popular webtoon "Terror Man," along with talk concerts by webtoon authors and renowned producers. The "2025 World Webtoon Awards," an awards ceremony selecting the year's best webtoon, is also scheduled for the evening of the 22nd.