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30 / Lifestyle

and rounds of evaluations by Kakao lege of Art and Design of Kyung Hee tion emerged.
Emoticon Studio. “One of my emoti- University, says emoticon is not a new “People began using symbols
cons was passed after being submitted creation. like ^^ and -.- to represent facial ex-
14 times,” says Moon. “Images were used to deliver pressions. That is the origin of the
The popularity of emoticon meanings before language was used. modern emoticon in Korea,” Yun says.
allows some successful emoticon Emoticon may seem like a fairly new “Koreans call themselves ‘the
designers to expand their business concept, but its origin goes back to the people of jest’. We like to find humour
such as mobile games, merchandises, ancient time,” she says. in everyday life, even in bad situa-
snacks, clothing and so on. Moon Yun points out that emoti- tions. Emoticon fits just right with the
also opened a pop-up store in May cons were first used in the 1990s in Korean lifestyle by making the con-
2019 and sold stationery products South Korea when PC communica- versation funnier,” Yun says.
and small cushions that have Ogu on
them.
Moon’s creation, Ogu, started
from a lamp, then an emoticon, and
soon it will be a game character. He
is currently launching a mobile game
featuring Ogu.
“I am developing the game for
franchising Ogu,” says Moon. “Mario
and Pikachu were first introduced as
game characters and are now known
worldwide,” he says.
“I hope Ogu can be the
‘Snoopy’ of Korea, giving heart-
warming messages and love to all gen-
erations,” he says.
Professor Yun Min Hie, who Ogu was originally a character created for a lamp (Photo Courtesy
researches formative arts in the Col- of Moon Jong-beum)