South Korea, renowned for its diverse cultural exports ranging from K-pop and K-dramas to cuisine and beauty products, has another sector gaining global attention: the webtoons market. Webtoons, digital web comics originating from South Korea, have been increasingly popular both domestically and globally. With the digitalization of various industries and the widespread use of smartphones, they are replacing paper-based manhwas. This rising popularity has led to the adaptation of webtoons into other media, such as K-dramas and games, which are rapidly gaining momentum in South Korea’s webtoon market.
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South Korea’s high smartphone penetration makes mobile-friendly webtoons a popular form of entertainment
The webtoons market in South Korea was worth USD 1.09 billion in 2023, a significant increase from around USD 112.56 million in 2013. It experienced rapid growth, particularly when COVID-19 was declared a global emergency. South Koreans had to find ways to entertain themselves while confined to their homes. In a country where 80% of the population owns a smartphone, digital content such as webtoons became popular.
Moreover, the webtoons market is experiencing robust growth, with a compound annual growth rate of 15.23% between 2023 and 2033. By 2033, the domestic webtoons market is expected to reach USD 4.50 billion. This trend is further propelled by South Korea’s hallyu wave, extending its influence globally.
MZ Generation is the top webtoon readers
The MZ Generation dominates the webtoon reader demographic. Those in their 20s particularly make up 40% of total webtoons readership. Webtoons’ appeal lies in their short, mobile-friendly format, which aligns well with the short attention spans of young readers. Unlike manhwas, they are easily accessible without the need for physical visits to comic shops or bookstores. They also offer cost-effective or free entertainment and cover a wide range of genres and topics, catering to diverse interests of South Korean youth.
From phones to the big screen – K-drama adaptations of webtoon comics becoming more common
With the rising popularity of Korean webtoons locally and abroad, hit webtoons are recreated into K-dramas. The vast number of available storylines and loyal fandoms of popular series have made webtoons a popular choice by producers for upcoming K-drama productions. An exemplary case is the webtoon “Itaewon Class,” which found its way onto Netflix as a series adaptation.
It happens the other way around too: the success of K-drama adaptations of popular webtoon series also brings in more readership. For instance, “Moving” (무빙), a webtoon series released in 2015, saw a 22-fold increase in revisits to the original webtoon’s Kakao webpage on KakaoPage – a digital creative content platform – after its K-drama adaptation in 2023.
Webtoons serve as a basis for South Korea’s gaming industry
The loyal fanbases of popular webtoons have attracted companies to gamify web novels and webtoons. The colorful mobile-first format of webtoons, optimized specifically for smartphones, blends well with South Korea’s gaming industry. Webtoon platforms are partnering with game developers, often through crowdfunding efforts, to release webtoon-based games of their most popular series. In a collaboration with the popular webtoon “Strangers from Hell”, Leda Games released a room escape game, “Strangers Are Hell: Innocent,” in 2023. The game successfully raised KRW 100 million in crowdfunding prior to its release.
Small and medium-sized gaming companies are also seeking growth opportunities through collaborations with webtoons. In 2023, Naver Webtoon, the Korea Creative Content Agency, and Google Play agreed to work together on “The Global Webtoon Games” project. This initiative supports the expansion of small and medium-sized gaming enterprises by capitalizing on the established fanbase of webtoons.
Rising demand for webtoon character merchandise among South Korean consumers
There has been an increasing demand for branded character merchandise. In 2021, Naver Webtoon reported a webtoon gross merchandise revenue of USD 900 million. This popularity has led to the establishment of online and offline pop-up stores featuring character items. Among the popular forms of webtoon-based character goods are photocard sets, which are both easy to produce and cost-effective, catering to the young audience of the webtoon market.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) used as defense measures against pirated websites
In South Korea’s webtoon industry, AI technology is increasingly vital in combating online piracy. Despite Korean platforms amassing 28.6 billion page views in 2021, pirated sites garnered 33.4 billion views, reflecting a 53.6% surge in copyright infringement valued at KRW 842.7 billion. This trend primarily targets paid content, complicated by servers outside Korean jurisdiction and lenient penalties. Legal victories against pirated webtoon operators have yielded limited compensation.
To address this challenge, major platforms like Naver Webtoon and Kakao Entertainment Corp. are responding with sophisticated measures. Naver Webtoon’s AI-powered Toon Radar system launched in 2017, has helped protect KRW 300 billion worth of copyrighted content annually. Toon Radar is trained to automatically monitor illegal websites and pirated titles, blocking violators of its intellectual property policy from gaining future access to its platform. Meanwhile, in 2023, Kakao Entertainment Corp.’s task force identified 9.2 million infringements and blocked 7,000 search keywords as well as tracked illegal character merchandise.
The most popular webtoon platforms in South Korea: the battle between two internet conglomerates
Naver Webtoon is currently the leading webtoons platform in South Korea, with nearly 9 million users in 2022. It is followed by Kakao’s KakaoPage and Kakao Webtoon (formerly Daum Webtoon) with nearly 5 million users and 2 million users, respectively. Notably, 80.8% of Kakao Webtoon users also use Naver Webtoon.
Both Naver Webtoon and Kakao Webtoon platforms serve as venues for emerging webtoon artists to showcase their work. However, there are differences in their user access models. Naver Webtoon provides free access for users, offering the option to purchase “cookies” to unlock unreleased webtoon episodes. In contrast, Kakao does not offer free serialized webtoons. Instead, they adopt a “free if you wait” approach, where readers must wait for a designated period after an episode’s release unless they opt to pay.
The webtoons market in South Korea is growing as it integrates with other creative sectors
- South Korea’s webtoon market has surged in value, reaching USD 1.09 billion in 2023. By 2033, it is expected to reach USD 67.6 billion.
- Webtoons are leveraged to create other contents like K-dramas, games, and merchandise.
- AI technology is employed to combat online piracy, with platforms like Naver Webtoon and Kakao Entertainment implementing measures to protect copyrighted content.
- Naver Webtoon and Kakao Page dominate the market, targeting South Korea’s tech savvy MZ Generation, a significant reader demographic.
