KOREA FOUNDATION

These days, Korean webtoons are becoming increasingly popular in Europe, Japan, and the United States. Naver Webtoons has topped the cartoon category in app markets in over 100 countries, and Kakao’s Daum Webtoon’s global service is registering fast growth, especially in China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Recently, thousands of fans gathered at a Korean webtoon artist’s signing event in Europe. But Korean webtoons’ popularity is particularly outstanding in Japan, a nation known to dominate the comics world, both in production and readership. As of last June, the Kakao and Naver webtoon platforms occupied 70 percent of Japan’s digital comics market.

The growth of Kakao Japan’s webtoon platform Piccoma owes largely to Solo Leveling, which landed at No. 1 on Piccoma’s “Best of 2019” list and also ranked highly on Kuaikan Manhua, the largest webtoon platform in China. Solo Leveling, originally a web novel under the title of Only I Level Up, is an exciting story about a young man who hunts all kinds of monsters and other creatures. The secret behind Korean webtoons’ global success seems to be these kinds of inventive and intriguing stories. Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, an adaption of a web novel of the same title that recorded 1.6 billion views, also became an instant hit when it was turned into a dynamic webtoon. The story takes on the life-or-death struggle of the main character who is suddenly thrust into the world of a novel as the real world collapses. The webtoon will be published on Naver Webtoon’s global service to readers in France, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, and United States.

The stunning illustrations of webtoons add further intrigue to the captivating storylines. With rich narratives complemented by vivid drawings, webtoons also become appealing sources for adaptation by producers of visual media such as live-action or animated TV series and movies. The film series Along with the Gods, based on the eponymous webtoon, is one such adaption. When its two parts were released in Korea, each attracted more than 10 million moviegoers. The series also recorded pre-sales to 103 countries. Tower of God, a Korean webtoon that has been viewed 4.5 billion times worldwide, has been adapted into an animated series through joint production efforts from Korea, Japan, and the United States. So far, more than 60 Korean webtoons have been adapted as TV series and movies.

Printed comics, known as manhwa in Korean, used to be more of a niche format in Korea. Not long ago, Korean manhwa readers usually read translations of manga, the Japanese term for comics and graphic novels. Now, however, Korean webtoons have become their own genre and market, distinctive of the manhwa of the past. Webtoons are not just digital comics, i.e. mere publications of printed comics online, but they make full use of the vertical scrolling format, harnessing the intrinsic characteristics of the web and mobile devices to maximize the visual impact. Free from the traditional boxes and dialogue bubbles of comics, webtoons have developed in a way that suit the digital platforms and are highly accessible to readers thanks to mobile apps. The limitless imagination unfolding in a digital environment invites global readers to the world of Korean webtoons.

Written by Kim Moonyoung

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