Call Guro “Ani Valley” From Now On

“Upon proclaiming that we are moving to the Guro Industrial Complex, our employees were complaining right away. They were concerned that their working environment will get poor,” says Kim Dae-hyun, director of Sunwoo Entertainment Co., a major animation production company with 15 billion won in yearly revenue. He was searching for an ideal spot to gather up all of the company’s studios scattered around Seocho-dong, Yangjae-dong, and Samsung-dong in Seoul, and Gwachun-shi in Gyeonggi, and he chose the Guro Digital Industrial Complex in Seoul.

Now he can laugh when he talks of the story, but he was reluctant himself when moving here to Guro-gu. As soon as one mentions the name “Guro,” the old image of “Industrial Town” came to mind.

Guro-gu used to be an industrial area where factories producing tires, coal briquettes, socks, and others clustered since 1960. However, the district is going through an innovative transformation these days. In particular, the digital valley in the middle of the district is generating the creative energy for venture businesses, a trend as strong as the one that happened in Gangnam in the 1990’s.

Guro-gu currently houses more than 2,000 venture businesses after they moved from the Gangnam area, such as Teheran Valley, since the financial crisis.

In particular, 16 animation production companies, the most prominent ones in the nation, are clustered in an area within 10 minutes walking distance. There was not a government-led policy to promote animation industry in the area, but the geographical conditions and the industry characteristics have matched and naturally induced the companies to come together there by word of mouth.

Director Kim counts the excellent accessibility as the best advantage that the Guro Digital Industrial Complex offers.

CEO Kim Young-doo of Dongwoo Animation Co., located in a nearby apartment factory, E-space on its seventh floor, is pleased with the larger space compared with the cost.

CEO Kim explains, “Most of the buildings have separate duct systems by the floor, and it is an attractive benefit for animation businesses in which working overnight happens frequently.”

A surprising level of tax breaks is another one of the advantages. Dongwoo Animation was exempted from registration taxes and acquisition taxes if they fulfilled the condition of maintaining their office for five years.

The leaders of the animation industry, who gathered naturally by the words of mouth, are now developing integration plans in different areas such as animation, characters, games, toys, and others. They are now speaking in unison that the only thing left is the attention of and investment by municipal officials.

CEO Kim Young-doo said, “Even though it is more convenient to frequent the Incheon International Airport from here than from Gangnam, it is inconvenient in many ways to ask a foreign buyer over here since there are not many major hotels or restaurants.” In response to that comment, Yang Dae-woong, head chief of the Guro District, said, “We are planning to expand infrastructure including hotels and a large-scale animation center.”

TK Sohn sohn@donga.com