A poster for the "Yumi's Cells" pop-up experience. [Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]
A poster for the "Yumi's Cells" pop-up experience. [Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]

A pop-up experience combining the popular webtoon "Yumi's Cells" with carbon neutrality is set to open in Seoul.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will run "Save Us! Carbon Zero-fluence Cell Village," a pop-up store featuring characters from "Yumi's Cells," at Star Square in Hongdae, Mapo-gu, Seoul from Saturday through Aug. 30, open daily from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. The event aims to raise public awareness of the need for carbon neutrality.

Inside the pop-up, visitors work through escape-room-style missions alongside characters from "Yumi's Cells" to experience what carbon-neutral living means in practice. At the "Blue Carbon Fishing Spot" off Yumi's coast, participants fish out ocean trash to protect the sea. At the "Cell Prison," they must solve a case of the Fashion Cell's excessive carbon consumption and complete a mission to free the Fashion Cell.

Commemorative gifts, including "Yumi's Cells" character merchandise, will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. No advance reservation is required — anyone can sign up on-site and participate free of charge.

The ministry chose an approach distinct from conventional policy promotion to make carbon neutrality more accessible and approachable for younger audiences. Drawing on the world of "Yumi's Cells" gave the event a familiar feel, while the escape-room format was designed to make the experience genuinely enjoyable.

The ministry is also unveiling a new policy brand, "Carbon Zero-fluence," aimed at achieving carbon neutrality for a sustainable future. Developed with the Presidential Commission on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth, the name expresses the wide-ranging influence — "zero-fluence" — that reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions holds for the public.

"This pop-up is not about delivering policy information one-sidedly — it presents a way of promoting policy that people can experience and enjoy," an official from the ministry's public communications office said. "We hope young people will work through the escape-room missions and other challenges to discover how to practice carbon neutrality in their daily lives, and that this 'zero-fluence' will carry over into the everyday lives of the public."


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