Naver Webtoon Corp.’s services in French and Spanish. (image: Naver Webtoon)
SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The webcomic arm of South Korea’s top portal operator, Naver Corp., said Monday that it has kicked off service in French and Spanish as part of ongoing efforts to reach foreign audiences.
Line Webtoon, a global service provided by Naver Webtoon Corp., added two languages in Europe, in addition to English, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian and Chinese, the company said.
A total of 40 contents from both home and abroad were released in Europe, with more to be added, it said.
“We plan to propel Naver Webtoon forward as a global entertainment player so that readers and writers from other countries can experience the service,” CEO Kim Joon-ku said in a press release.
Naver Webtoon, more commonly known as Line Webtoon in the United States, is home to a plethora of creator-owned content, ranging from romance to fantasy.
Naver Webtoon is showing marked growth in the U.S. after entering the market in 2014.
The number of its monthly active users, or MAUs, surpassed the 10 million mark in the U.S. in November, nearly doubling from 2014.
Naver Webtoon recorded 60 million MAUs in the global market and is expected to bring in 600 billion won (US$519 million) in content transactions this year.
Naver Webtoon said it is the top-grossing animation app on the Google Play Store in over 100 countries, including the U.S. and Japan.
(Yonhap)
