Busan's Young Content Creators Gather for the First 'Busan Contents Festival' Hosted by Dongseo University

77 Teams from 16 Universities
Reach Finals and Awards Stage

From games and webtoons to AI videos and tourism content, young creators who will lead the future of Busan's content industry gathered in one place to showcase their ideas and potential in competition.

Dongseo University (President Jang Jeguk) announced on the 16th that its ANCHOR Project Group successfully concluded the finals and awards ceremony of the "1st Busan Contents Festival" held at the BEXCO Convention Hall on the 12th.

This event was more than just a university student competition; it served as a hands-on stage for universities participating in the Busan-style ANCHOR project to work together to explore the future of the local content industry. Amid the recent spread of AI technology and the growth of the K-Content industry, the event focused on discovering creative ideas from local university students and evaluating their potential for commercialization.

College students who participated in the "1st Busan Contents Festival" held at BEXCO Convention Hall on the 12th.

The inaugural competition saw participation from 77 teams representing 16 universities in the Busan region, including Kyungnam College of Information & Technology, Pukyong National University, Dong-A University, Pusan National University, Silla University, Tongmyong University, Dong-Eui University, and Dongseo University. In four categories—game, webtoon, AI video, design, and tourism content—40 teams that passed the preliminary rounds advanced to the finals after receiving mentoring from experts.

In the finals, 10 teams from each category presented their work and answered questions, competing in terms of creativity, business potential, and content completeness. More than 150 people, including representatives from Busan Metropolitan City and Busan Rise Innovation Institute, as well as local university students and industry experts, attended the event to witness the young creators' ideas.

Dongseo University, as the host institution, demonstrated its strength by having the largest number of teams—15—advance to the finals. Busan Kyungsang College followed with four teams, while Pusan National University and Dong-A University each had three teams reach the finals.

The grand prize in the tourism content category was awarded to Dongseo University's "OUTPICKER" team. Composed of Cho Younghan from the Department of Tourism Management and Convention and Cho Kangmin from the Department of Global Tourism, the team introduced "TripCart," a platform that recommends travel itineraries based on users' emotions and experiences, earning high marks from the judges.

This event was organized as part of the Busan-style ANCHOR project, which aims to nurture content industry talent based on the local industry. It was particularly meaningful because it implemented a university-industry collaboration model that connects content planning and production skills learned at university with real industry settings.

Hyundong Lee, professor of computer engineering at Dongseo University, said, "It is significant that this is a hands-on stage where students present content they have planned and produced themselves, using Busan as the theme," and added, "We will continue to develop the Busan Contents Festival as a platform for regional young creators and content companies to grow together."

Kihyun Hwang, head of the ANCHOR Project Group at Dongseo University, also stated, "We plan to expand our support to ensure that the ideas generated at this competition do not remain merely as contest results, but lead to actual startups, employment, and commercialization," adding, "We will work to create a content ecosystem in Busan where local talent can realize their dreams."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.