Meet the Characters of Line Friends & Kakao Friends

Are you a fan of Ryan? or Brown? Or do you have any idea who they are?

Until very recently the most popular Korean souvenirs were traditional Korean masks, tea, folding fans or porcelain jars. However, things have been changed. Korea has seen a boom in the character market in recent years. This trend has been led by two mobile app companies: Line and Kakao. 

Line, a mobile messenger developed by a Japanese subsidiary of Korea’s internet search company Naver, started character merchandising business in 2011. Then, a year later Kakao followed the competitor. The characters created by these two mobile messenger apps have attracted countless fans around the world, particularly, teenagers and young adults who are heavy messenger users. 

Both Line and Kakao operate merchandising shops across Korea and around the globe. Kakao has two flagship stores and Line has four flagship stores in Seoul. These shops have now become a must-visit for tourist.

Kakao Friends Gangnam Flagship Store

Kakao Friends Gangnam Flagship Store is a three-storied shop in the heart of Gangnam. KakaoTalk is the number one messaging app in South Korea and naturally, Kakao Friends are domestically popular. Most customers when I visited the shop were Koreans. 

Ryan is said to be the most popular character among the eight characters.

The first and the second floors are filled with products ranging from stationery, clothing, dolls to kitchenware. 

There, I see the sexy peach Apeach, which is my favorite. 

The third floor is a cafe. The place is spacious, with both indoor and outdoor seating.

LINE FRIENDS Itaewon Flagship Store

While KakaoTalk is dominant in Korea, Line is popular in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkmenistan and Indonesia. So it was not surprising that the flagship store of LINE FRIENDS is in Itaewon, the most international district in Seoul.

The most popular character among Line Friends is Brown the bear.

Line Friends also makes products in collaboration with leading brands such as Bang & Olufsen, L’Occitane and even Helvetica!  

Who is your favorite character? Mine is Sally! 

BT21 is characters co-created by K-pop superstars BTS.

There were many photo spots in the store. So get the camera ready when you are in the shop. 😉

The top floor is a cafe with photo spots and character themed food and drinks. 

Of course, I had ice cream and a cookie. How cute they are!