SEOUL, March 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean webtoon series “Money Game” has been produced into an American web reality show, Naver Webtoon said Tuesday. The new American show is a five-episode reality show in which eight participants compete in a series of brainteaser games to win a prize of US$300,000. Jubilee, a YouTube channel [...]
BANGALORE, India, March 16 (Korea Bizwire) – TOONSUTRA, the India-focused mobile webtoon startup that has been incubating in stealth mode, announced it closed an oversubscribed pre-seed round for US$1.1 million. The new startup was incubated at leading character entertainment company Graphic India and was founded by media entrepreneur Sharad Devarajan. TOONSUTRA is building India’s first “Webtoons meets [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — A new fantasy webtoon and web novel inspired by K-pop superstars BTS will be released later this week, the group’s management agency said Wednesday. Hybe said its original story of “7Fates: Chakho” will be available on Naver Webtoon, an online platform for web-based comics run by South Korea’s top [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s cartoon exports jumped more than 40 percent in 2020 from a year earlier amid the growing global popularity of Korean pop culture, a report said Wednesday. Outbound shipments of cartoons, including webtoons, stood at US$64.82 million last year, up 40.9 percent from a year earlier, according to [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — In the midst of the rapid growth of the South Korean content industry, the competition between Naver Corp. and Kakao Corp., the two major tech companies, is heating up to secure story content like webtoons and web novels. Naver Webtoon, the webcomic arm of the nation’s top portal operator, [...]
SEOUL, May 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Kakao Entertainment, an entertainment arm of Kakao Corp., said Tuesday it has acquired U.S.-based online comic app Tapas and fiction app Radish for US$510 million and $440 million, respectively. The subsidiary of Kakao Corp, the operator of South Korea’s top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said the latest deals could help [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Naver Corp., South Korea’s top Internet portal operator, and Kakao Corp., the operator of the country’s top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, have an unrivaled presence here but often face criticism that their platforms are limited to the domestic market. This criticism, however, is becoming increasingly misguided since Naver and Kakao’s [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Naver Corp., South Korea’s top internet portal operator, is witnessing a growth in its webcomic business, which will eventually improve its earnings, industry sources said Friday. Naver Webtoon, more commonly known as Line Webtoon in the United States, is home to a plethora of creator-owned content, ranging from romance [...]
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 [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Brazil, known as South America’s gateway to the Korean Wave, hosted an exclusive event to promote Korean webtoons. The Korean Cultural Center in São Paulo held a Webtoon Night Exhibition on Monday. Famous webtoon artists including Kwon Hyuk-joo and Song Rae-hyun were present at the opening ceremony, giving an [...]