The studio was founded on September 1957 as April 26 Children's Film Studio (4.26아동영화촬영소). It worked on over 250 foreign animations. It mainly worked on subcontracted Russian, Italian, French, Spanish and Chinese animation, while working indirectly on outsourced American animation. SEK worked on several animated series with
Mondo TV, including
Pocahontas: Princess of the American Indians and
Simba the King Lion. SEK also produced animated features such as
Gandahar and
Empress Chung. In 1997, in order to take part in an animation festival in France, it registered as the "Scientific & Educational Film Studio of Korea". SEK is an abbreviation of this name. According to Cinema Escapist, its most prominent US projects were
The Simpsons Movie, ''
Futurama: Bender's Big Score,
and an episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender''. Recently, collaborations between SEK Studio and other nations have declined, with only China co-producing content. This can be attributed to rising tensions between North Korea and the West, especially the United States. As of 2003, SEK Studio employed over 1,500 people and worked for over 70 companies from around the globe, including Europe, South Korea, China, Canada and the United States. After the introduction of advanced equipment, the number of employees was reduced to about 500. There are 11 animation production teams in SEK Studio. Nine are responsible for overseas animations, and two produce domestic animations. Since 2010s, SEK studio has subcontracted many animation studios in China and outsourced
Chinese TV series, web animations, game graphics and commercials. In 2014, SEK Studio cooperated with Chinese companies to establish an office in
Beijing. SEK Studio has invested $70,000 in Chinese companies. In December 2021, the
US Treasury accused SEK Studio, and companies and individuals related to it, of exploiting North Korean workers to earn foreign currency and avoid sanctions on North Korea. In April 2024, a server leak revealed that some Western television series, such as
Invincible and
Iyanu: Child of Wonder, as well as the Japanese anime series
Dahlia in Bloom, had been worked on by SEK Studio, despite sanctions. The official
Twitter account of the anime issued a statement, saying that "neither the production committee nor the production studio were aware". The studio working on the anime,
Ekachi Epilka, also posted on their homepage that their work files was used without their permission, and denied involvement with SEK Studio. They speculated that the leak came from a subcontracted company. SEK Studio's staff is mostly composed of Pyongyang Art Academy graduates, and SEK Studio has established an animation training institute to teach young students. Much of the work produced by SEK Studio is considered to be propaganda for North Korean children, as SEK Studio is state-owned.
Previous names SEK Studio was founded in 1957 as April 26 Children's Animation Film Studio. • Korean National Film Studio – Puppet Animation Film Research Institute (1957–1959) • Korean National Film Studio – Animation Film Studio (1959–1960) • Korean National Film Studio – Animation Film Production (1960–1964) • Korean Children's Film Studio (1964–1971) • Korean Science Education Film Studio – Animation Film Production Team (1971–1980) • Korean Science Education Film Studio – Children's Film Production Team (1980–1996) • Korean 4.26 Children's Film Studio (1996–2013) • Korean April 26 Animation Studio (2013–) ==Filmography==