South Korea’s Internet-Based Comic Strips ‘Webtoon’ Achieves Global Popularity

South Korea's webtoon craze is becoming popular globally after the Korean term was launched a few years back. Initially, the idea appealed to a limited audience who were open to the idea of using internet-based comic strips.

However, webtoon continued to gain popularity, not only in South Korea but also in other countries. Korea Joongang Daily noted Jan. 27 that Delitoon CEO Didier Borg reportedly said "webtoons will replace manga."

According to reports, the idea of internet-based cartoons started in 2003 when Daumkakao (Daum) serially circulated the work of Yoon Tae Ho and Kang Full. Since then, the idea was adopted by other web portals.

Al Jazeera forecasted Jun. 30 that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has estimated $153.5 million for the webtoon industry in South Korea last year. According to a research, more than 4,000 webtoon artists are publishing their works through online portals where people can easily access them.

Seok Woo is among webtoon artists who are publishing their series regularly on web portals.

"Many artists blend their own life experiences into the story and that often resonates well with readers," Seok said, as noted by Channel News Asia Wednesday.

"It's actually quite nerve-racking because readers rate each episode, with the number of clicks and readers' feedback shown right in front of your face each week."

He continued, "It's a bit surreal how the webtoon has become a next big thing so quickly."

A senior at state-run Korea Creative Content Agency said webtoons are entirely different from the traditional comic strips.

"Webtoons are not simply scanned versions of print comics," said Kim Suk. "It's a whole new, different genre tailored for the Internet age."

Kim continued, "The introduction of smartphones in 2009 was a watershed moment for webtoons...it really fuelled their growth."

Reports have revealed that over 80 percent of the total population of South Korea has smartphones. This means that millions of South Koreans have access on webtoons using their devices.

The popularity of webtoons allowed thousands of cartoonists to earn US dollar incomes coming from fees on web portals and advertisers.