[Big Tech, Big Change] "I refuse the contest award"... This one phrase startles K-Webtoons

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] "Please cancel the awards."

Daum Webtoon, operated by Kakao, recently experienced an embarrassing situation. It is a rare case where winners of the Daum Webtoon contest requested to cancel their awards. It is known that they made this request to Kakao in order to sign serialization contracts with Naver Webtoon. For Kakao, which lost its artists to Naver, this is a blow to its pride, but from the perspective of the entire K-webtoon industry, it signifies the 'endless competition' between Naver and Kakao. The fierce battle between the two companies, which are expanding beyond the domestic market to overseas, is leading to qualitative growth in content and is blossoming into a 'K-webtoon Renaissance' worldwide.

◆ Daum Webtoon Winners Choosing 'Naver' = According to industry sources on the 31st, Daum Webtoon recently announced the winners of the '2020 Cheonhajeil Webtoon Contest' but decided to cancel awards for some works. In a related notice, Daum Webtoon stated, "Five works received contact from other companies' contests requesting award reversals, and we decided to respect the authors' wishes and accept the requests."

The works for which Daum Webtoon canceled awards are 'Wangtta Hyupsang' (Bullying Negotiation), 'Gyeolhonkkaji Mangsanghaesseo!' (I Fantasized Until Marriage!), 'Shine Star', 'Agasa', and 'We Are the Zombie'. According to Asia Economy's investigation, these works were confirmed to have won awards in Naver Webtoon's '2020 Jisangchoedae Contest' held around the same time. 'We Are the Zombie' won the grand prize, 'Wangtta Hyupsang' and 'Gyeolhonkkaji Mangsanghaesseo!' won the excellence award, and 'Shine Star' and 'Agasa' received encouragement awards. Winning a contest grants the opportunity to officially serialize the webtoon. An industry insider explained, "The winners who gave up Daum Webtoon's awards probably judged that serializing on Naver would be better," adding, "This incident during the contest submission process shows that Naver and Kakao are focusing their capabilities on the growth potential of K-webtoons."

◆ Naver and Kakao Leading the 'K-Webtoon Renaissance' = In fact, Naver and Kakao are competing for dominance in the global webtoon market. The fiercest battleground is Japan, the 'kingdom of manga.' Naver's webtoon platform 'LINE Manga' is closely pursued by Kakao Page's webtoon platform 'Piccoma.' LINE Manga has surpassed 27 million app downloads and ranked first in combined manga app revenue on Google Play and iOS in Japan for the first half of this year. Piccoma is also rapidly growing, surpassing 20 million app downloads.

Besides Japan, Naver Webtoon is expanding globally to the United States, China, Europe, and South America. Naver Webtoon's global monthly active users (MAU) reach 64 million, aiming for 70 million within the year. The global paid content transaction amount reached 70 billion KRW in May alone, and it is expected to achieve 800 billion KRW in transactions this year. As Naver Webtoon grows into a global platform, the annual earnings of its authors have also reached significant levels. Among Korean authors serializing on Naver, the top 10 earn an average of 3.1 billion KRW annually. The average annual income for all authors is about 300 million KRW.

Daum Webtoon is also aiming for a global leap. Following Japan, 300 works have entered markets such as Indonesia, China, and the United States. Thanks to this, in May, the combined domestic and international daily transaction amount exceeded 2 billion KRW. A Kakao Page official said, "About 25% of Daum Webtoon's serialized works have signed video rights contracts, recognizing their artistic value," adding, "Currently, there are about 10 ongoing overseas rights contracts."