With Busan's Comic World just days away, the organizers' unusually blunt and emotional public notice went viral because it lays bare how close Korea's biggest fan convention is to losing its venues entirely due to attendee misconduct. The stakes feel very real and immediate.
Comic World, one of Korea's largest and longest-running doujinshi and cosplay conventions, just dropped a lengthy, almost desperate public plea on their official Twitter — and it's got the Korean internet buzzing ahead of next week's Busan event at BEXCO.
The organizers laid out a grim situation: complaints from ordinary citizens near the venue have been absolutely flooding in. We're talking littering, blocking public walkways, overly revealing outfits, and cosplayers setting up full photography rigs in shared public spaces — all outside the actual event grounds. The backlash from locals has gotten so bad that Comic World has already been effectively banned from holding events in Seoul, and now both the greater Seoul metro area and Busan's BEXCO venue are reportedly on the verge of cancellation too. In short: the convention's entire future in Korea's two biggest cities is hanging by a thread.
In response, organizers announced a strict new rule: outdoor cosplay anywhere near BEXCO is completely prohibited on event day. Cosplayers can only suit up and shoot photos inside the venue's designated 'Cosplayer Zone' (코스어존). To sweeten the deal and make the indoor experience actually worth it, they're doubling the size of changing rooms and storage facilities, adding a dedicated photographer zone, a lounge area, picnic mat zones, and even a separate entrance for cosplayers.
They also made a pointed request to fans who didn't manage to get tickets: please just don't come to BEXCO at all that day. Instead, they encouraged ticketless fans to attend one of Comic World's other monthly events held around the country.
The organizers were careful to acknowledge they have no legal authority to control what people do in public spaces — but they stressed that when outside cosplay activity gets associated with the Comic World brand, it puts their venue contracts at risk. They also warned that the damage extends beyond just their event: the reputation of Korea's entire subculture scene and other similar events could take a hit.
The big question everyone's asking online? Will anyone actually follow the rules? The general vibe seems to be... skeptical.