The ninth-annual International Creative Content Fair (ICCON Fair), held in Seoul, South Korea last month, was the most successful outing yet for the up-and-coming event.

Organized by the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), this edition of ICCON drew more than 2,000 delegates looking to take in five full days of programming that included sub-conferences on every aspect of the broadcast, mobile and digital industries. The festival also offered the Korean creative community an opportunity to learn from some of the most sought-after international experts in the field. Max Howard (president and producer for Exodus Films), David Voss (VP of entertainment design at Mattel), Katarina Dietrich (CEO of Copyright Promotions Licensing Group) and Linda Simensky (VP of children’s programming at PBS) were all on-hand.

‘We want to learn from the overseas speakers and to be exposed to their knowledge,’ says Young Il Park, senior manager of KOCCA’s export and financial support unit. ‘We want to learn business strategies, distribution, licensing and financing, so we covered it all.’

With an estimated pool of US$300 million, KOCCA not only organizes ICCON, but the government-funded organization is also responsible for supporting creative training, research and development, and providing financial support through various grant and loan programs to a number of Korean content enterprises

The organization’s stated goal is to catapult Korea into the top-five content- producing nations in the world. While it’s a lofty benchmark for a modest-sized country of approximately 48 million people, Park believes that the country’s technical edge in emerging areas such as 3-D animation will help South Korea reach its goal.

‘The Korean people accept and adopt new trends and technology very quickly,’ he says. ‘This environment makes for good high-quality content across all platforms and genres.’