Government to Establish Comic and Webtoon Platform Rivaling Netflix

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Announces Development Direction for Comics and Webtoon Industry
Festival and Awards Ceremony with Cannes Film Festival-Level Prestige Also Planned
"Mobilizing All Available Resources... As a National-Centered Project"

The government is promoting the growth of comic and webtoon platforms comparable to Netflix. On the 23rd, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the development direction of the comic and webtoon industry at Art Korea Lab in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Minister Yoon In-chon stated, "Following K-pop, dramas, and games, this is the next major sector of our country's content industry," adding, "We will mobilize all available resources to make changes felt on the ground and nurture it as a nationally centered strategic industry."

The project receiving the most attention is platform globalization. Last year, four domestic companies ranked among the top five global webtoon platform revenue earners. In particular, Kakao Piccoma recorded $600 million in overseas revenue based on its success in Japan, and Naver Webtoon secured a unique influence by operating a space for amateur webtoon artists to serialize their works (Canvas) in the United States.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will strengthen support to help these companies increase their success stories and become global platforms. It will quickly provide overseas market information and offer consulting for market entry. Additionally, it will invest 1 billion KRW, 400 million KRW more than last year, in 'interpretation and translation support,' which was identified as the most necessary item in the webtoon status survey.

Strategic designs to secure competitive advantages will also be concretized. Global events introducing webtoons to comic readers worldwide will be held in the United States and Japan, and calls for international co-production support will be promoted. Furthermore, the ministry will support the overseas expansion of small and medium platforms that supply specialized content tailored to local demand, discovering and distributing content that captivates local readers.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will also focus on cultivating high-level talent by benchmarking the film and game sectors that lead K-content. It plans to promote creative, industrial, and translation talent development projects similar to the Korean Film Academy and Game Talent Center, and establish a 'Comic and Webtoon Talent Academy (tentative name)' by 2027, integrating these efforts. This year, it will newly establish training courses for industry personnel needed on-site, such as planning and production PDs and professionals responsible for secondary commercialization, and conduct related education. Next year, it will launch an elite training course to annually produce thirty creative talents capable of generating super intellectual properties (IPs), cultivate translators specialized in webtoons, and establish a 'Translation Support Center (tentative name)' to perform translation and proofreading consulting.

The ministry will also organize comic and webtoon festivals and international awards ceremonies with prestige comparable to the Cannes International Film Festival. This fall, a festival will be held domestically where readers, authors, and industry workers can enjoy together. A ministry official explained, "This event is being prepared reflecting the industry's and readers' regrets that, despite being the origin country of webtoons and possessing globally popular comic and webtoon IPs, there has been no proper related festival domestically," adding, "We aim to make it an internationally prestigious event by holding an awards ceremony that confers highly authoritative prizes."

The reason for the all-out efforts in various areas is the clear growth trend of the industry. In 2022, the comic and webtoon market size reached 624 billion KRW, growing 23 percentage points from the previous year. The export scale also surpassed $100 million ($107.64 million) for the first time, thanks to the overseas expansion of domestic webtoon platforms. Minister Yoon said, "This figure exceeds the average growth rate of the content industry," and explained, "The comic and webtoon industry is expected to lead the growth of our content industry for the coming years."

Webtoons themselves are a treasure trove of IP. Many films and dramas based on them have succeeded, proving their marketability. Minister Yoon predicted, "They will become an important pillar of the content industry and a foothold to expand the influence of K-content."

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism plans to strengthen support organizations and budgets to promote and foster the comic and webtoon industry. This year, it will reinforce organizations supporting creation, distribution, investment, and overseas expansion by establishing a comic and webtoon industry team at the Korea Creative Content Agency. It will also form a 'Comic Promotion Committee' involving creators and industry experts to build a representative channel for communication with the industry and creators. Additionally, it will push for a full revision of the 'Act on the Promotion of Comics' to the 'Act on the Promotion of the Comic and Webtoon Industry,' establishing a legal and institutional foundation for the comic and webtoon sector to develop as an industry.