Seoul City to make celebrity figurines

Korean Wave fans from all around the globe will be able to get their hands on dolls of their favorite stars from next year, said city officials on Tuesday.

Seoul Metropolitan Government said it will develop figurines of Olympic champion figure skater Kim Yu-na and actor-singer Ryu Shi-won, and release the toys by September 2012.

The capital has already signed an agreement with two companies for the production and expects to spend 150 million won ($139,600) on the project.

The project is following the example of dolls representing figures such as Michael Jackson, Bruce Lee and characters from Star Wars. Such dolls are already a part of popular culture in countries including Japan and the United States.

“We see this idea as a fuse for Korean figurines to ride the second hallyu trend into the global market,” the official said, whose name was undisclosed to the media, adding that the two stars were an ideal choice.

“Kim Yu-na has mastered the sport (figure skating) including in the Olympics and has also become the most preferred commercial model, while Ryu Shi-won has amassed 500,000-plus Japanese fans as the original hallyu star,” said a city official.

The city also plans to produce figurines of K-pop stars such as KARA, Girls’ Generation and TVXQ.

Seoul has produced figurines since 2008 and has seen great success with animation characters like Robocar Poli whose products have sold out.

By Robert Lee (robert@heraldcorp.com)