(Un)making the “Korean” Astro Boy Atom - National Manhwa, Korean Pop Art, and Cultural Hybridity

Aug 27, 2026

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The study examines how Korean cultural policy responded to Japanese popular culture after a 1998 planned ban lift, revealing tension between promoting “genuinely” domestic manhwa and protecting the national industry from manga influence. It analyzes official approaches to manhwa and contrasts them with alternative artistic models by Lee Dong-Gi and Hyun Tae-Jun. Using hybridization theories, it explores Atom as a fusion of Japanese Astro Boy and Mickey Mouse, and Hyun Tae-Jun’s 2007 replicas of classic Japanese animation characters.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages35

Reading Time1 h 28 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction: Lessons from the 2005 Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF)

Policy context and cultural hybridity in manhwa

Representations of Korean independence figures at SICAF

(Un)making the “Korean”Astro Boy Atom: National Manhwa, Korean Pop Art, and Cultural Hybridity * KOH Dong-Yeon Abstract When the Korean government announced its plan to lift the ban on the circulation of Japanese popular culture in 1998, it immediately articulated its intention to support “genuinely” domestic comic books (called manhwa in Korean) and animation in Korea. This policy move demonstrated the government’s ambivalence toward the influence of Japanese manga; at the sametime that the government officially encouraged cross-breeding between Japanese and Korean popular cultures and audiences, they became overly protective of Korea’s domestic popular culture industry. This paper offers a critical examination of the notion of national culture or national aesthetics by looking atthe official policy toward manhwa in Korea. In addition, Lee Dong-Gi’s and Hyun Tae-Jun’s artworks prove to be important alternatives to the notion of an authentic Korean manhwa culture. Using theories of the hybridizing process by Arjun Appadurai and Nikos Papastergiadis, I also investigate Lee Dong-Gi’s Atomaus, a hybrid of Japanese Astro Boy and Disney’s Mickey Mouse, as well as Hyun Tae-Jun’s 2007 replicas of classic Japanese animation characters. These characters and artworks show the ambiguous state between original and copy, or national and hybrid cultural products. Keywords: nationalism, globalization, cultural hybridity, multiculturalism, Korean pop art, Japanese manga and animation, animation studies, contemporary Korean art * The revision and publication of this paper was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea. An earlier version of the paper was presented at the First International Conference on Popular Culture and Education in Asia, hosted by the Hong Kong Institute of Education on December 12, 2008. KOH Dong-Yeon is currently a lecturer at Korea National University of Arts in Seoul. Dr. Koh’s dissertation was published as Larry Rivers and Frank O’Hara: Reframing Male Sexualities in Art and Culture of the 1950s in 2010. E-mail: [dykoh@yahoo.com](dykoh@yahoo.com). Introduction: Lessons from the 2005 Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF) In 2005, the annual Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF) took place at the opening of the Seoul Animation Center and the House of Cartoons, a space dedicated to year-round exhibitions and events on comic books, called manhwa in Korean—and manga in Japanese—and the animation industry in Korea.1 At the 2005 SICAF, there was a special show devoted to heroic figures in Korean history who fought for Korean independence from the Japanese occupation of 1910 to 1945. The year 2005 was the 60th anniversary of Korea’s independence from Japan in 1945. The festival was also held on August 15, Korea’s Independence Day called Gwangbokjeol. These historic figures are Yu Gwan-sun, Yun Bong-gil, and An Figure 1. From left to right: An illustration of Yun Bong-gil from SICAF (2005); photograph of Yun Bong-gil; and Eroica Yori Ai o Komete エロイカより愛をこめて(From Eroica with Love) (1976) 1. The government’s support of the domestic industry included the opening of the Seoul Animation Center, the House of Cartoons in Seoul, and the SICAF. The Seoul Animation Center serves as a site for both research and education by recovering some of the important political and social cartoons that had been subjected to censorship under the military dictatorships during the 1970s and 1980s. The SICAF opened in 1995 and attracted more than 300,000 people in its first year, establishing itself as one of the rare occasions for international animation makers and publishers to meet and exchange ideas about the industry. Jung-geun, most of whom appear in history textbooks in Korea. They were affiliated with the Korean Independence Movement (called dongnip undong), either as participants of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (1919-1948) or as assassins of Japan

FAQs

What examples does the paper use to show ambiguous boundaries between Japanese originals and Korean adaptations?

It investigates Lee Dong-Gi’s Atom, combining Japanese Astro Boy and Disney’s Mickey Mouse, and Hyun Tae-Jun’s 2007 replicas of classic Japanese animation characters.

Aug 27, 2026

Upload by Finn