By james art 
Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) Commissioner Yoon Won-seok delivers a speech during the Hollywood and Asia Entertainment Forum at the Incheon Art Center, Oct. 21. Courtesy of IFEZ
By Ko Dong-hwan
The Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) has struck an entertainment partnership deal with the city of Glendale in California, agreeing to boost cooperation in the entertainment industry and turn Incheon into a global cultural hub, the Korean coastal city’s special economic zone said on Friday .
By partnering with Glendale, home to world-renowned entertainment companies such as DreamWorks Animation, Incheon aims to expand its entertainment network in the US and strengthen the local entertainment industry. This collaboration follows an earlier agreement with the US city of Burbank, also in California.
The agreement, signed at the Incheon Art Center on October 21, involves the introduction of a new intergovernmental platform jointly built by the governments of Incheon and Glendale and shared with entertainment companies in the two cities. IFEZ expects the partnership to simultaneously boost production, distribution and consumption in the entertainment industry and markets of both countries.
Glendale is home to many global content developers, including DreamWorks, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, which produces global animated hits such as the Shrek and Kung Fu Panda and Trolls franchises.
On the day of the signing of the agreement, IFEZ hosted the Hollywood and Asian Entertainment Forum. The event was attended by IFEZ Commissioner Yoon Won-seok, Glendale Mayor Ellen Asatryan, film producer Patrick Cech, known for The Watcher starring Keanu Reeves, and Eric Yoon, CEO of America’s largest Korean television network TVK24.
Yoon said that with IFEZ’s latest deal with Glendale, it plans to host the bilateral forum regularly.
“By hosting the Asian version of Hollywood in Incheon, we will help export our cultural content,” he said. “We also plan to introduce a Hollywood Asia theme park.”
IFEZ’s latest overseas expansion followed Incheon’s 1961 partnership deal with Burbank, another American hub for global media companies. IFEZ said its upcoming bilateral platform for US entertainment companies will hopefully cover Hollywood and Los Angeles and further strengthen Incheon’s entertainment industry.