Character development of Korean historical person :Chungmugong General Lee Soon-shin

역사적 인물의 캐릭터 개발 - 충무공 이순신 장군을 중심으로

Character industry in Korea has a history of less than 20 years by now, as it began in earnest at the end of the 1980s. Domestic character market is estimated to be around 1.2 trillion won occupying mere 0.01% of the world character market of 1,200 trillion won and less than 4% of the Japanese market, according to the according to the calculation made by Korea Animation Producers Association. Local character takes up only 5% of the domestic character market, necessitating the development of the local character and an increase in market share. It is painful to look at the current status of the local character market especially when compared with the huge world market. However, it might be and opportune moment for us to reverse the situation in our favor by a mental switchover. And we need to face up to the reality that the local character industry has many problems, and it is our duty to settle them. What then are the problems caused by the foreign character taking up 90% of the domestic market? Foreign character overwhelming the local market will bring about cultural dependency, emotional confusion, and financial loss caused by the payment of the royalties stemming from the intellectual property rights. The following is suggested as methods of settlement for such problems: 1. Development of character emotionally appealing to the Koreans 2. Development of long-lived character 3. Development of character firmly based on a good scenario 4. Thorough planning & marketing 5. Establishing an institution exclusively governing character business This study discussed the importance of developing long-lived character appealing not only to the Koreans but also to the whole world, that will meet the requirements as stated in 1 & 2 of above. For this purpose Chungmugong General Lee Soon-shin was chosen out of the Korean historical personages for further analysis, trying to rediscover the significance of the character development based on originality.