'Kkokko Makeri', the official character of the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI, Acting President and Vice President Yoo Dong-wook), the only research institute specializing in electricity in Korea, has undergone a design renewal to mark its 10th anniversary.

Jeon Gi-yeon announced on the 6th that it recently renewed the design of its official character, 'Kokko Makeri,' by changing its color scheme and image to match the latest trends.

Kkokko Makeri, created in 2011, is an anthropomorphic character modeled after a pure and cute young child, and has been active as a science communicator helping children understand electric technology, a clean energy source, from a child's perspective.

The newly changed Kkokko Makeri maintains its identity by keeping the colors and shape similar to the previous version, but the face concept is changed to an image resembling a light bulb. It enhances friendliness by utilizing colors that match the latest trends with a cute expression full of curiosity.

The biggest feature of this renewal is the creation of two support characters to help Kkokko Makeri: Grandpa Bobae and Totoka.

'Grandpa Bobae,' a dialect-speaking grandfather character in the form of a power bank, plays the role of warmly embracing Kkokkomakeri and imparting a lot of knowledge in various promotional content. The AI flying car 'Totocar' is expected to add fun to promotional content by displaying a cute yet coy personality.

Ko Seong-ju, Head of External Cooperation at KERI, stated, “We plan to showcase the three characters introduced through the renewal in various forms, such as animations and emoticons, on the institute’s social media channels, and also produce them as cute merchandise like dolls to distribute through various events.”

Meanwhile, KERI is providing a communication space where anyone can easily and enjoyably resolve their scientific curiosities, based on six social media channels (blog, Post, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Naver TV), the most among agencies under the Ministry of Science and ICT. Based on the slogan "Jjirit Jjirit," which means "Know electricity (Jiit) and use it wisely (Jiit)," and utilizing its cute mascot "Kkokko Makeri," it actively uses themes closely related to daily life and has received much love, achieving over 1 million views of its social media content for three consecutive years.