Hur Young-man, one of the nation’s most famous cartoonists, will be appointed an honorary goodwill ambassador of the World Traditional Medicine Expo to be held in Sancheong, South Gyongsang Province, from Sept. 6 to Oct. 20.

The organizing committee of the expo said Wednesday that it would hold a ceremony at Hur’s studio in Seoul on Friday to present a plaque of appointment as an unpaid publicity envoy.

Hur will promote the expo with veteran actor Lee Soon-jae, who was named an honorary goodwill ambassador for the expo in February last year.

Born in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, the 67-year-old debuted as a cartoonist in 1974. About 20 of his works have been made into movies, TV series and animated films.

Organizers said they decided to appoint him as goodwill ambassador because he was scheduled to start a comic on “Donguibogam” this month. “Donguibogam” is a well-known Korean medicinal book compiled by royal physician Heo Jun and first published in 1613. The expo is held to commemorate the 400th anniversary of its publication.

Hur is to publish the “Donguibogam” comics in serial form on a mobile messenger for more than two years from around the middle of this month.

“I studied “Donguibogam” for over 16 months and learned a lot about acupuncture, moxibustion and restoratives,” Hur said. “I will help the organizers actively in attracting visitors to the Sancheong expo.”

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)