Korean Manhwa captivates Malaysia and Japan

Enjoy "ON. WEBTOON" online for a year

Great real-time online fan meeting in two countries by webtoonist Choi Gyu-seok,'Hellbound'

SEOUL,South Korea,March 4,2022 -- The Korea Manhwa Contents Agency has been successfully running K-Webtoon Online Exhibition "ON. WEBTOON" in Malaysia and Japan since February 11,2022.

K-Webtoon Online Exhibition "ON. WEBTOON"

The "ON. WEBTOON" exhibition,hosted by the Ministry of Culture,Sports and Tourism and run by the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency,the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Malaysia and the Korean Cultural Center in Osaka,showcases representative webtoons popular in Malaysia and Japan to the local readers.

The 'On' in "ON. WEBTOON" contains multiple meanings which include switching on,continuation,everyone,and online,and of course,it also contains the intention to offer comfort by conveying joy and warmth to the world via Korean webtoons during such tiring times of COVID-19.

Alongside the online exhibition,an online fan meeting with Choi Gyu-seok,the webtoonist of 'Hellbound',was successfully held at the Korea Plaza in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia,on the afternoon of February 18 and at Mirinae Gallery at the Korean Cultural Center in Osaka on February 19.

During the first part of the event held in Malaysia,Kwon Chang-ho,secretary-general of the Webtoon Association,introduced the 'webtoon' genre and talked about the use of OSMU,which is the adaption of webtoons into movies and dramas. In Part 2 of the event,an online fan meeting was held with the 20 readers who visited Korea Plaza in Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia.

When asked by a fan,"Which character can you best relate to in 'Hellbound'?",webtoonist Choi Gyu-seok answered,"Lawyer Min Hye-jin." His explanation "Although I think my personality is similar to Lawyer Min,I'm not as brave" aroused laughter from the fans.

During the first part of the real-time event held on the YouTube channel of the Korean Cultural Center in Osaka on February 19,Lee Hyun-seok,CEO of Red7,gave a lecture on the history of Korean webtoons in the 2000s and elaborated on the prospect of Korean webtoons entering the Japanese market. In addition,real-time online question-and-answer sessions were held with 20 participants who signed up during its pre-registration.

During the second part of the event,an online fan meeting was held with webtoonist Choi Gyu-seok. When asked "What kind of works other than 'Hellbound' would you like to introduce to Japanese readers?",he replied,"I recommend '100℃' which is published in Japanese. Also,if you are good in Korean,it would be really great if you could read 'Songgot '."

You can join theK-manhwa online exhibition on the website (kwebtoon.net) for a year,and read the introduction of seven famous webtoons:- 'Navillera: Like a Butterfly','True Beauty','Nevertheless','The Uncanny Counter' and also other manhwa teasers in English and Japanese.