Nina Jobst
Research expert covering South Korea
Webtoon industry in South Korea - statistics & facts
Korean webtoons are taking over the media landscape. Webtoons (“web” + “cartoons”) are digital comics that are updated regularly and easily accessible via mobile applications. With growing popularity, the market grows likewise. Especially in South Korea, they have become a staple form of entertainment, and the industry develops at a rapid speed to adapt to users wishes.
Fierce competition for the lead
The most popular webtoon service in South Korea was Naver Webtoon, followed by the platforms Kakao Page and Kakao Webtoon (previously Daum Webtoon). The latter is the result of a merge and rebrand in August 2021, combining both existing series from Daum Webtoon as well as new works from Kakao Page. The platform has new features like a recommendations page, artwork as moving pictures, and 3D animated movies. Daum Webtoon is considered as one of the earliest webtoon platforms in the market. It introduced a system for paid content and was the first service with a successfully serialized webtoon named Hello Schoolgirl. Naver Webtoon and Kakao's webtoon services are competing for the leading market position, not only in the domestic market but also in foreign markets. Since webtoons are becoming more popular worldwide, the services also launched in America, Europe, and other Asian countries, with localizations and translations supporting their market entries. Among this, Naver was granted the trademark of their “Webtoon” logo in South Korea and the word “webtoon” itself in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, and Indonesia. According to the company, this will strengthen its branding as a leading figure in the market.Webtoon and mainstream media
Besides purely reading them, webtoons have also made their way into other aspects of life. With the rising popularity of webtoons, the demand for merchandise has also increased; around one-in-four people in a survey were found to have purchased webtoon merchandise before. Additionally, webtoon-based content is becoming more established within the mainstream media landscape through TV and animated series, movies, and mobile games. Even large video streaming services have acknowledged the popularity of these adaptations, with securing the rights to screen series such as Itaewon class, Marry my husband, and Sweet Home to an international audience. Netflix is known to invest in K-content creation and streams various Korean shows. Occasionally, webtoons are based on (web)novels. Some users were led from one medium to the other, which was a contributing factor for both Kakao and Naver to acquire foreign web novel platforms. The former had acquired Radish and Tapas, while the latter purchased Wattpad, and launched serialized fiction platform Yonder.Market challenges
Like the Japanese manga industry, one of the most serious challenges of the Korean webtoon industry are illegal content sharing websites and accounts. It was the most common factor behind webtoon artist experiencing copyright infringements, and lead to losses for the industry. This summer, to contain this content piracy, Naver Webtoon filed a DMCA subpoena in the United States to reveal individuals behind illegal comic sharing websites. This was not the first time the company has done something like this, and in fact, other international organizations also undertook steps to keep content piracy under control.
