[Valuable Intellectual Property] How Do Successful Creators View 'Joyonghan Toesa' (Quiet Resignation)?

②How Much Is My Worth?…Now Is the Era of 'Human IP'
Started with a Blog…Became a Star Artist Drawing Beauty Comics
One Year of Self-Exploration After Resignation…Started with 290,000 KRW per Month
"Consistency and Diligence Are Basic…Character Must Be Clear"
Strict Rule: No Advertising Products That Are Unsatisfactory

Beauty comic artist and beauty creator Jung Na-young.

"Creators can't stand out by doing just the bare minimum like a ‘joyonghan sajik’ (quiet resignation). It's a profession where you have to live passionately."

Beauty comic artist Jung Nayoung (36) is a beauty creator who has written a ‘sold-out legend’ for every product she introduces and a star cartoonist with a loyal fan base. In her twenties, she was an ordinary office worker. She worked as a graphic designer at a fashion company. However, excessive work caused great mental stress, which led to self-blame. "I gained 8 kg in just three months. My atopic skin was scratched so much it bled. I felt like I was ‘broken’ because I kept having negative thoughts about myself."

After quitting her job, she set a period of exactly one year for self-exploration. She freely challenged herself with things she had always wanted to do, such as learning baking skills, knitting, and calligraphy. She also started a blog with beauty-related reviews at this time. Despite various attempts and relentless efforts to find a new job, it was not easy. As the year was ending, her savings ran out, and feelings of despair and fear began to grow. She had declared to her family, "If I achieve nothing in one year, I will give up cleanly." "While going to interviews to re-enter the workforce, I got an opportunity to draw outsourced comics. I earned only 290,000 won a month, but I thought if I could endure a little longer, there might be hope, and that's how I got here."

Webtoon by artist Jung Nayoung introducing beauty information

Now, she is serializing a beauty webtoon under her own name. In 2019, she held her first solo exhibition, which was visited by 10,000 people. An animation recreating the original character ‘Doenda’ was produced and broadcast. She also made merchandise using Doenda’s illustrations. Recently, she appeared on live commerce broadcasts, recording sales in the hundreds of millions of won each time. This was possible because she had steadily built a fandom with witty, relatable comics and honest reviews. Jung is a representative example of ‘Human IP,’ which applies one’s own character and content as intellectual property (IP) across various fields. Unlike simply promoting and selling products through social media, Human IP is characterized by integrating authentic content into diverse areas. She advised those aspiring to become creators to ① just start, ② maintain consistency and sincerity as basics, and ③ build their own unique character.

Creators are officially classified as ‘media content creators’ in the Korean Standard Occupational Classification revised by Statistics Korea in January 2018. The profession is popular. In a survey by the Ministry of Education on elementary students’ future career preferences, creators ranked 3rd in 2019 and 4th in both 2020 and last year. However, a survey conducted last year by the Korea Creative Content Agency targeting creators showed that satisfaction with job ‘stability’ averaged 2.48 points, much lower than the average satisfaction with ‘activity’ at 4.13 points. Anxiety about stability was most closely related to economic income. Unlike office workers, monthly income is not fixed and fluctuates depending on economic conditions. This is a common characteristic among creative groups working individually, like artists.

When asked how to have a long career as a creator, Jung replied, "It is important to consistently uphold the beliefs you set for yourself." She said she never advertises products she is not satisfied with, even if her income drops to zero. She explained, "Earning money is important, but if you do too many advertisements, not only I but also my fans get fatigued, which can harm creativity," and suggested, "It would be good if everyone creates rules based on their own values."

Jung’s view is that creators and office workers cannot be compared in the first place. Creators have to fully take responsibility for everything from planning and content production to the resulting outcomes and public opinion. Competition is fierce, and they must quickly respond to changing trends. It is clearly different from ‘joyonghan sajik’ (quiet resignation), which has recently gained sympathy among young people as related videos spread like a trend on social networking services (SNS). ‘Joyonghan sajik’ refers to a mindset where one does not actually quit but mentally leaves the workplace and only does the assigned tasks during set working hours. When asked if one could prepare to become a creator while doing ‘joyonghan sajik,’ Jung said, "Young people these days are really smart. I wonder if I could have stayed longer at the company if I had thought that way," but added, "A creator is both the company and the employee."

Finally, Jung said to the younger generation, "I think it’s smart to find meaning in life in various ways. I hope that meaning is found through self-exploration, not just to post photos on Instagram. There are limits to just decorating the outside. In the end, what matters is the substance."