[Power K-Women] When Afraid to Challenge... Think of Today as the Last

Webtoon 'Myeoneuragi' Author Susinji
Transforms into Cartoonist After Battling Ovarian Cancer
Insists on SNS Serialization and Independent Publishing Despite Numerous Offers

Editor's NoteOn October 19, Asia Economy held the ‘2022 Women Leaders Forum’ and selected 40 women active in various fields both domestically and internationally as ‘Power K-Women.’ These are women leaders who, despite facing all kinds of barriers and boundaries such as gender, race, disability, and poverty, did not yield but broke or transcended these boundaries to create new and universal values. Their stories offer comfort to a weary world and serve as role models for others, giving communities the strength to move forward again.

"The charm of comics is that I can complete something I imagined all by myself from start to finish, and that I can create something I thought of today and bring it to the world as soon as tomorrow. It’s like magic."

Webtoon artist Susinji, who neither reveals her face nor real name. She was an ordinary illustrator drawing illustrations for picture books and debuted in 2012 with a comic called ‘3 Gram.’ In 2017, she drew a webtoon titled ‘Myeoneuragi’ and serialized it on her personal social media account.

Why Do Couples Have Different Positions?

"I just thought it was a bit strange. Why does the positional relationship between a couple change just because they get married? Even in an ordinary married life, there are some underlying oppression and inequality, though not very intense. But I realized that women gradually get accustomed to that kind of stress. It’s subtly painful, but when you try to talk about it, it feels petty, so you just think it’s better to keep things peaceful. They adapt to a tilted playing field."

After marriage, she calmly examined the strange oppression and discrimination women face. And the everyday scenes of countless daughters-in-law in South Korea, which had previously been overlooked, began to be recognized as unreasonable incidents. Without any great conflicts or harsh dialogues. This webtoon, loved by 600,000 followers, was adapted into a web drama of the same name, aired on KakaoTV, and achieved an impressive 17 million cumulative views.

Self-portrait by artist Susinji. Photo by artist Susinji

‘Myeoneuragi’ was selected as ‘Today’s Our Comic’ in 2017. Susinji received the ‘Korea Cartoonists Association President’s Award’ and in 2018 won the ‘Cheonggang Cultural Award in the Gender Equality Culture category’ and the ‘Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award at the Korea Content Awards.’ People paid attention not only to the story but also to the new serialization method. It was praised as "giving infinite freedom to artists." Until then, works could only be exposed to the public if they pleased platforms or publishers, but nowadays, many artists freely upload comics on SNS like that.

"To serialize officially with a salary, the story or completeness must meet certain standards. Now, even if the drawing is clumsy, if the content is good, it often becomes popular. I think it’s great that various trivial stories come out diversely."

Being able to fully talk about the difficulties and joys experienced as an artist is a happy thing not only for the artist but also for readers. However, among artists, many still hesitate to start, worrying ‘to become famous, you need at least tens of thousands of followers.’ Susinji encourages, "What’s important is just the thought that I want people to listen to and empathize with my story." She emphasizes that "once you upload something and get even one or two comments, you gain the energy to continue."

Dreamed of Becoming a Famous Illustrator After College

Susinji was actually someone far from comics. She graduated from Seoul National University’s Department of Western Painting and started doing illustration at the recommendation of a publishing company official. Her sole interest was to become a famous illustrator. Among her friends who studied together, no one drew comics.

Then, in the fall of 2006, at just 26 years old, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which became a decisive turning point. At the time, it was a thunderbolt from a clear sky, but looking back now, it was a gift of hardship. During her battle with ovarian cancer, she confessed, "The comfort people gave, words of consolation from those who hadn’t experienced it, sounded somewhat twisted." So she started looking for magazines in the hospital that contained testimonials from cancer patients. She wanted reassurance by seeing stories not about what pain they endured but that they ultimately recovered and were okay, with real evidence.

"After battling illness, I realized that it’s more important to exhibit that I am safe rather than what I went through. By showing that I survived safely, I wanted to give comfort and assurance to others."

This is how the illness memoir ‘3 Gram’ was born. 3 Gram is the weight of the ovary the artist lost during surgery. When the work was finished, she independently published 200 copies and exhibited them while visiting hospitals. About two years later, a famous comic publisher, Mimesis, contacted her and published the book.

"It’s true that I met the wonderful world of comics because of my cancer battle. But honestly, that’s something I can say now because it ended well. If you can avoid it, it’s better not to go through it."

More than ten years have passed since her cancer was declared cured, and now she lives daily life without special management. She laughs, saying, "Back then, there were no smartphones, and we watched TV by putting coins into shared TVs. Watching only dramas that grandmothers liked and living in groups was harder than chemotherapy." The artist realized then that boredom is an unbearable pain for young people.

In fact, the biggest change after experiencing ovarian cancer was her perception of time. Until then, she always prided herself on living diligently, but underlying that was the assumption that time was always available. Even when working as an illustrator, she consoled herself, thinking, ‘My existence isn’t known now, but if I achieve something in the future, my name will be known. Now is the preparation period.’

"Honestly, I was a bit embarrassed by my drawings myself. Yet I lived expecting that someday someone would recognize me and a famous publisher would contact me. After getting sick, I realized that opportunity might never come and life could end. Time isn’t endlessly in front of me."

The artist, who quietly practiced in a small room by copying famous foreign illustrators, gathered courage to say, "Even if it doesn’t fully meet my standards or is somewhat lacking now, I will honestly show it to the world."

People sometimes ask if he has ever thought, ‘What if I fail?’ He says, "Many people fear showing their work because they admire famous works as a standard. But I want them to realize that they could die before that." He adds, "Moreover, nowadays readers seem to focus more on relatable and empathetic stories than well-drawn pictures."

"The world today offers great opportunities if you just break the frame of thinking. Still, many artists hit the limits of their thinking, not technical skills. But if you don’t try, nothing happens. And when you come out to the world not yet perfect, you grow by receiving feedback. That’s true for me too."

Nothing Happens Without Trying

After ‘Myeoneuragi,’ she refused offers from famous platforms and webtoon sites and still insists on SNS and independent publishing. She also creates and sells goods on her website and plans events. Famous webtoon artists are known to earn huge incomes from serialization. Publishing on SNS and selling books comparatively yields much less income. Besides income, the process of doing multiple roles alone must be very exhausting. Moreover, handling all processes alone inevitably has limits.

"At first, I knocked on many doors wanting to serialize but was rejected. Later, when a famous webtoon site contacted me to serialize, I liked the setting that the protagonist, Min Sarin, uploads webtoons on SNS so much that I wanted to keep it. If I serialized on a webtoon site, the setting disappears and only the story remains."

She said, "I want to meet readers in the way that best fits the content and nature of the work." It was suitable to upload on SNS because it was important for the messages contained in both ‘Myeoneuragi’ and ‘Gon’ to spread to many people. Of course, future stories will find formats that fit them.

'Myeoneuragi', depicting experiences of married life. Photo by Susinji

The artist started serializing ‘Responsibilities and Duties as a Class President’ last month. She is working on a long-form version of a short comic that won an award long ago. Known for finely revealing everyday trivialities to amplify empathy, all her works start from her own experiences. ‘Responsibilities and Duties as a Class President’ is from high school, ‘Street Painter’ from the time she worked part-time doing portraits after college, and ‘Myeoneuragi’ from after marriage. She advocates "not writing about what I haven’t experienced," reminiscent of Annie Ernaux, the 2022 Nobel laureate who pioneered the autobiographical writing genre called autofiction. Is autobiographical writing a trend? It’s curious whether she will continue to focus on her own stories.

"Honestly, I think that’s my limit as an artist. I’m afraid to tell stories I haven’t experienced at all. Whether I can draw an interesting story just from imagination is a challenge for me."

Wants to Be an Artist Who Resonates with the Times

While working on ‘Gon,’ she focused on the theme of the abolition of the abortion law. Later, she regretted that the theme was too strong. So she holds the intention, "Next stories will have themes but focus on stories that are fun to watch first."

The pen name Susinji was hastily created by rearranging the three characters of her real name when she moved from illustration to comics during the ‘3 Gram’ project. But as a creator, she gives it meaning as if it means ‘the destination where the message arrives.’ Where does she want to reach as an artist?

"I want to keep making stories until I die. To do that, I must not fall behind the codes of the times. Even in the fast pace of the era, I want to be an artist who always has contemporaneity and resonates with the times."

Writer: Choo Myunghee jedda@asiae.co.kr