Seoul POPCON opened Friday at COEX for a three-day run that mixes games, webtoons, animation, film, streaming, cosplay, creators and newer categories such as AI and XR. It can be enjoyed simply as a convention weekend in Gangnam. The more interesting story is how little sense it now makes to treat those industries as separate worlds.
- WHEN
- August 14–16
- WHERE
- COEX, Gangnam
- SATURDAY
- 10:00–18:00
- SUNDAY
- closes at 17:00
One floor, many kinds of IP
The official program combines game, comic and live-content areas with creator spaces, indie games, cosplay and a Korea Contents Market aimed at IP business. That range is not accidental. A decade ago, a webtoon, a game, an idol project and a streaming drama might have been discussed as separate industries. Today the valuable asset is often the underlying intellectual property and the audience that can follow it from one format to another.
That is why the B2B side of an event like POPCON matters alongside the fan stages and costumes that dominate social media. Korea’s cultural exports increasingly grow through adaptation, licensing, fandom and distribution rather than through a single product that stays in one medium.
The question after the weekend
For visitors, the appeal is immediate: games to try, artists to meet, cosplay, performances and fandom concentrated in one place. For the industry, the more useful question is which small project attracting a crowd this weekend can travel into another medium or another country next.