Controversy Over Sexual Content in 'K-Webtoons': Industry Grows, but Monitoring Staff Remains at 'Zero'

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Although the webtoon industry has grown to a scale of 1 trillion won, concerns have been raised as government management and supervision are virtually nonexistent.

According to data obtained by Asia Economy on the 26th through the office of Shin Hyun-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) confirmed that there are zero dedicated monitoring personnel for webtoons. The KCSC stated, "We do not separately operate monitoring personnel or dedicated staff related to webtoons within the commission," adding, "However, one staff member responsible for review also handles webtoon-related tasks such as processing complaints."

It was also confirmed that there is no government management regarding the 'user rating' of webtoons, such as 15+ age rating or youth restricted content. The KCSC responded, "Procedures and standards for user ratings are autonomously conducted by companies affiliated with the Webtoon Self-Regulation Committee." In other words, without any government monitoring personnel, platform operators like Naver Webtoon set user ratings on their own.

Overall supervision of the webtoon industry is handled by the Webtoon Self-Regulation Committee, established when the KCSC signed a 'self-regulation cooperation' agreement with the Korea Cartoonists Association in 2012. The KCSC only takes action when webtoon-related complaints are filed. Upon receiving complaints, the KCSC forwards the complaint details to the Webtoon Self-Regulation Committee. After review, the committee can request platforms serializing webtoons to take measures such as service termination, content modification, youth access restrictions, or adult verification recommendations.

However, even if these requests are not followed, there are no effective government-level measures. In the case of Kian84's 'Return to School King,' which sparked controversy over misogyny, the only actions taken were warnings to the webtoon platform and strengthened monitoring and staff training. The KCSC has no way to regulate whether these measures are properly followed. A KCSC official explained, "Since it is literally self-regulation, there are no legal (penalty provisions)."

While the government has taken a hands-off approach under the pretext of 'self-regulation,' as the webtoon market grows, various issues have arisen.

Following Kian84's 'Return to School King,' Naver Webtoon's 'Helper: Killberos' became controversial for excessive expressions, and recently, the all-ages webtoon 'Change' faced criticism from users for sexual objectification of minors. In fact, complaints related to webtoons are on the rise. The number of complaints about 'violence, hate, and sensationalism' related to webtoons received by the KCSC increased from 133 last year to 153 this year (as of August). Within less than a year, related complaints increased by 20 cases (15%).

Therefore, there are calls for government management and supervision even if self-regulation is maintained. Representative Shin emphasized, "It would be good if self-regulation works well, but various concerns are emerging," adding, "A government-level channel for management and supervision should also be established."

Shin Hyun-young, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker