[Edaily Kang Gyeong-rok Travel Reporter] Characters, stories, and images are expanding into merchandise, pop-up stores, and online platforms. A business model that goes beyond simply selling content itself—one that leverages a single intellectual property (IP) across multiple industries—is emerging as a major topic in the content industry.

The “2026 Content Universe Korea” event, taking place on the 16th at the Goyang Flower Exhibition Hall in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, will focus on this trend in a session titled “IP Economy.” The one-hour session, starting at 4:00 p.m., will feature Shin Cheol-ho, CEO of OGQ; Choi Yong-seok, CEO of Idea Flap; and Lee Heon-hee, a professor at the Graduate School of Gyeongsang National University. The theme is “The Potential of IP: The Scalability of a Single Story Across Industries.”
This session will focus on how content is distributed after creation and how it can be integrated with brands to drive consumption. The event as a whole has also adopted the content value chain—which extends from creators, fan communities, IP, and platforms to the industry and local communities—as its main agenda.
OGQ, led by CEO Shin Cheol-ho, is a content platform that facilitates the trading of creative works such as images, videos, and music, currently boasting 17 million active users and 1.3 million active creators. Recently, the company has been collaborating with Story, a blockchain-based IP infrastructure firm, to expand the IP of Korean creators into the global distribution ecosystem.
CEO Shin will deliver a presentation during this session titled “Creators, AI, and the New Fandom Created by Creativity.” He plans to discuss how a creator-centric content ecosystem and fandom are interconnected amid rapidly changing AI and platform environments.
Choi Yong-seok, CEO of IdeaFlap, will examine the process by which a positive impression of content leads to actual purchases and brand experiences. The title of his presentation is “The Last Mile of IP Branding: How Does Content You Love Become a Brand You Want to Buy?” IdeaFlap has been expanding global IP into pop-up stores and spatial experiences, such as through Star Wars-related brand marketing campaigns with The Walt Disney Company Korea.
Attendees will be able to witness this approach to IP expansion firsthand at the event. IdeaFlap plans to set up a pop-up store called “S’MORE” and showcase merchandise featuring its own IP and other content. This approach moves beyond simply consuming content on screens or as artworks, allowing visitors to experience it through products and physical spaces.
As the scope of IP utilization broadens, legal issues are also growing. Professor Lee Heon-hee of Gyeongsang National University will address legal issues arising from the spread of generative AI in a presentation titled “Legal Issues of AI Content in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”
Following the three presentations, a roundtable discussion will take place under the theme “One IP: Discussing the Future of the Content Industry.” The discussion will focus on the roles that platforms, brands, and legal and regulatory frameworks should play in the process of expanding a single IP into various products, services, and industries.
“2026 Content Universe Korea” will be held under the theme “The Infinitely Expanding Content Economy: Connecting Creators, IP, and Fandom.”

Over the course of two days, the event will feature a series of lectures by 24 domestic and international experts, as well as various exhibition and hands-on programs, including a “Toy Story” pop-up store by The Walt Disney Company Korea and a flea market hosted by popular influencers. The participation fee is 10,000 won (per person), but admission is free for those who pre-register on the website by 5:00 p.m. on the 15th. A prize giveaway will also be held for pre-registered attendees, with prizes including international airline tickets and hotel stays awarded via a random drawing.