The Seoul city government has created a street devoted to cartoons in the central part of the capital to promote the creative industry and boost tourism, officials said Tuesday.

The 450-meter-long street, stretching from Seoul’s Myeong-dong Station to the Seoul Animation Center on the hillside of Mount Namsan, has been transformed into a huge open-air cartoon gallery, featuring graffiti-like paintings of famous characters, comic quotes and short stories.

Along the street, named “Zaemiro” ― or the street of fun ― the government has created five small parks to allow locals and foreign tourists to take a rest while enjoying outdoor displays.

Some 70 famous local cartoonists took part in the project.

In the middle of the road, the city has built a multipurpose cultural hall for comics. The four-story building, set to open on Thursday, is equipped with galleries, reference rooms and shops, according to officials.

Starting next year, the city plans to open flea markets for trading animation-related goods and exhibitions of comic art, they added.

“We expect that using cartoons will help transform this place into a tourist attraction, creating even greater synergy effects on both industries and boosting the local economy,” said Han Moon-cheol, the city official in charge of design projects. (Yonhap News)