Lotte Home Shopping to nurture Bellygom as a global character 

Lotte Home Shopping Inc. announced Thursday the company will showcase Bellygom at a New York City exhibit next week, as part of a broader plan to grow it into a global intellectual property. 

In April, the electronic retailing arm of the Lotte Group displayed the 15-meter tall teddy bear on the lawn in front of Lotte Tower in Jamsil, Seoul. The event drew more than 3.25 million visitors. 

The decision to take the teddy bear abroad comes as more than 40% of the viewers on Bellygom's official YouTube channel are overseas and more than half of the comments on the channel are made in languages other than Korean. 

Lotte Home Shopping said it will nurture Bellygom as a global IP and continue to produce content related to the teddy bear, such as animation, for the overseas market.

The upcoming NYC debut of Bellygom is scheduled for Sept. 20-21 at Pier 17 in Manhattan. 

The character will be used to draw attention to the Korea Brand Expo in NYC held during the same period and to help in Busan's World Expo 2030 bid. 

Bellygom will also make an appearance at NYC's Times Square. 

Earlier this month, Lotte Home Shopping showcased Bellygom at the Lotte-Korea Brand Expo held in Berlin, Germany. 

Write to Jee Abbey Lee at jal@hankyung.com