"Writers and Platforms Must Both Make Efforts"
The serialization of the Naver Webtoon “Gobaek Chwiso Doena?” (Can I Cancel My Confession?), which was recently embroiled in plagiarism allegations, has been suspended.
On the 15th, Naver Webtoon announced in a notice, “’Gobaek Chwiso Doena?’, which received reports regarding similarities with other works, is scheduled to suspend service at midnight on September 16.”
Shinmae’s “Gobaek Chwiso Doena?” became embroiled in controversy on the 15th after allegations of plagiarism from a Japanese manga were raised. It was pointed out that the dialogue and panel direction were very similar to Nanba Atsuko’s “Ne Gyeotui Na” (Me Beside You).
In response, Naver Webtoon stated that they were verifying the issue with Shinmae and decided to suspend serialization just one day later.
This is not the first time plagiarism controversy has arisen on Naver Webtoon. Earlier this month, suspicions were raised that the dialogue, composition, direction, and development of “Yeoja-reul Sagwigo Sipda” (I Want to Date a Girl) by Nogatryang and Yeongo were similar to Akasaka’s “Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai ~Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen~” (Kaguya-sama: Love Is War).
In response, the production company YLAB acknowledged the allegations within a week, leading to the suspension and termination of service for “Yeoja-reul Sagwigo Sipda.”
Last year, the story structure, settings, and characters of Gwanjeol’s “Imaemangryang” were also accused of being similar to Fujimoto Tatsuki’s “Chainsaw Man,” sparking plagiarism controversy. Naver Webtoon then announced, “We plan to revise the problematic early drafts and proceed with reopening in the future,” and suspended the service of the work.
Earlier cases include the suspension of serialization due to similarity controversies with other works for “Tteugeoun Yangcheoljibung Wiui Goyangi” (The Cat on the Hot Tin Roof) in 2021, “Daegari” in 2019, and “Gogyo Saenghwal Girokbu” (High School Life Record) in 2018. Moreover, some of these cases were not mere coincidences but blatant plagiarism, leading to criticism that Naver Webtoon’s verification system is insufficient.
In response, after a series of plagiarism controversies involving new webtoons, Naver Webtoon announced plans to “operate a work monitoring team involving readers,” but shortly thereafter, the same issue occurred again.
Within the industry, voices are emerging that “while there are limits to verifying plagiarism for all works, both individual creators and platforms need to make efforts to reduce controversies.”
Regarding the suspension of “Gobaek Chwiso Doena?”, Naver Webtoon stated, “We take the seriousness of the recent work similarity issue very seriously,” and added, “We will strengthen monitoring, develop technology to detect plagiarism, enhance plagiarism-related education for creators, and make every effort to prevent recurrence.”
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