Hongseong County Picks Hongberry and Others From 525 Local Specialty Character Entries

Hongseong County, South Chungcheong Province, announced the winners of its local specialty character contest on January 14, 2026. From 525 entries, it selected the strawberry character Hongberry and the Hongsan garlic characters Maru and Roro. The county said it plans to develop merchandise, animation and webtoons featuring the winning characters.

Hongberry is the strawberry specialty character of the Hongseong County Cultural City Center. Maru and Roro, winners of the 2026 contest, are the Hongsan garlic specialty characters and are used to promote local farm products.

News about the center's characters continued in August. Ttori and Ssari, organic farming characters the center created in 2025, made the finals of the 2026 South Korea Local Government and Public Character Festival. Ttori and Ssari are a duo based on the duck used in duck farming and a rice seed. The center said it plans to expand the two characters into merchandise and content. The news of their advance to the finals was posted on the county website on August 10, 2026.

Hongseong County also has Bokdori and the Hongseong historical figure characters featuring Choe Yeong, Seong Sam-mun, Han Yong-un and Kim Jwa-jin.