The Korean National Railroad (KNR) unveiled a new mascot, "chipochipo" on Monday. The name was made in relation to the semantic "chickchick pokpok", which is the Korean version of "choo choo". The KNR said it tried to make "chickchickpokpok" suit modern times and changed the word to "chipochipo" to make it easier to pronounce.

The KNR plans to use the image in not only promotional materials such as posters and tourist information boards at all of its train stations nationwide, but also develop other ways to include the mascot's image on stationery items and souvenir gifts.

(Choi Hong-ryul, hrchoi@chosun.com )