Korean Webtoon Giant Bets on Short-Form Trend With Animated, Voice-Acted Episodes (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Naver Webtoon is bringing the aesthetics of short-form video to digital comics, testing a new feature that turns webtoons into five-minute video episodes on its English-language platform.
The company said Monday it had introduced the “video episode” function in beta, adding animation, sound effects, background music, and voice acting to transform webtoons into bite-sized video content. Each participating series offers about 20 free episodes.
The trial covers 14 original English works, including Mafia Nanny and Vampire Family. Naver Webtoon plans to expand the lineup in coming months.
The move highlights the company’s push to blend the fast-growing short-form trend with its signature vertical-scroll comics. In May, Naver Webtoon launched “New & Hot,” a feature that summarizes popular works into short video-style trailers for global users. Next month, it will roll out “Cuts” in Korea, allowing anyone to create and share short-form webtoon animations.
Yongsoo Kim, Naver Webtoon’s chief strategy officer and head of global operations, said the experiment aims to amplify the storytelling power of webtoons by pairing them with the viral appeal of short-form video.
“We expect significant synergy when the inherent narrative strength of webtoons meets the short-form trend,” he said, adding that the feature could expand beyond English to other languages.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
