While TV dramas may portray college classes with assigned readings, essays and tests, the truth is that professors also must adapt to technological shifts, especially in terms of media consumption. Webtoons are an important medium through which the Korean Wave flows. For those of you who are unfamiliar, webtoons are vertical “scrolling comics” built for viewing on a cellphone.
They originated from and were developed in Korea. They enjoy a large fan base. For some people outside Korea, this serves as their primary gateway to understanding the country.
Webtoons are also big business. On June 27, 2024, Webtoon Entertainment (backed by Naver) offered its initial public offering, WBTN, on the US NASDAQ exchange at $21 per share, raising $315 million, and valuing the total market cap of the company at $2.9 billion.
Their annual revenue is $1.3 billion, and they boast 170 million active monthly users. A total of 900 titles have been adapted to streaming series, films, books and games.
Of course Webtoon Entertainment is not the only company that allows artists to publish in this medium, but it is the largest and the one with which I am most familiar. In my class on Hallyu, I cover materials on K-pop, K-dramas and webtoons. Still, it was not clear to me how to incorporate it in my class.
Through a contact from a Yale alumna, I reached out to the folks at Naver Webtoon in the US. Kirsten Pointer, the University Programs Specialist at Webtoon, organized a zoom visit with three of he.