Webtoons

“Scott Mccloud, an expert of the comics field, once predicted on the TED video channel that in the future, comics would be Internet-based, using scrolls to flip through the pages,” Jong Bum Lee explained. “The only thing he was not able to foresee correctly was the timing.”

Jong, a webtoonist who draws the comic Doctor Frost for Naver, further stated that Scott McCloud was not able to foresee when these magical cartoons would appear and become a popular media fixture. Now, more than 3.5 million Koreans view these cartoons every week.

So what is a webtoon? Webtoons are free Internet-based comics found in South Korea. Compared to printed materials used in the U.S. or in Japan which readers flip through pages, webtoons incorporate an innovational type of media depiction that simplifies the motion of flipping pages into scrolling through the screen using one’s fingertip. With the help of smartphones and tablet technology, webtoons have become a popular aspect of Korean culture. Its convenience and simplicity has lead thousands of Koreans to visit webtoon sites during their leisure time.

Some call webtoons a new type of media after the advent of movies and drama, since webtoons are not part of a simple 2D program that demonstrates immobile pictures. Many webtoonists, recognizing the advantage of this digital cartoon, have tried innovational attempts that transcend the limits of paper-based cartoons. The Bongcheon-dong Ghost comic that terrifies many Koreans, as well as foreigners is just one of them. Some webtoonists use music to increase the reader’s empathy and emotion, while others use animations, moving characters in 2D screen. The Story of Costanza (콘스탄쯔이야기),  for example, uses animation to vividly depict CCTV videos. Likewise, webtoons make many things possible that were limited in 2D paper-based cartoons.

Nevertheless, webtoons are most appealing because they are simply enjoyable. There are many genres of webtoons from 일상툰(daily life toons, usually comical) to story-toons, which deal with engaging stories. These branches of webtoons are further subdivided into other various genres, such as fantasy, historical and horror. Although there is an overwhelming number of webtoons, no one is really overwhelmed because each webtoon contains its own individuality and style. Every webtoon is special like each individual star shining in the night sky. These stars look the same on the outside, but once people dig into the webtoons, they will soon figure out that every star is special with its unique spots, rings and small moons. Some of these webtoons have earned enough popularity to be made as movies or dramas. The movie Secretly, Greatly (은밀하게위대하게), based on the Daum webtoon about three North Korean spies on a secret mission to South Korea, experienced huge popularity in June 2013.

For people who wish to learn Korean, webtoons is a great way to do so, as they teach Korean culture and humor as well. Even being exposed to Korean thoughts from webtoons is a meaningful and fun way to learn. In this sense, webtoons are more than a mere series of pictures. They have now become Korea’s advanced technology culture and pride.

The feature image of this post is from the horror comic The Ok-su Station Ghost.)