Daejeon, the City of Webtoons, to Host the "2025 University Comics Webtoon Championship"

Held at Daejeon Esports Arena from November 14 to 16
48 works awarded from 156 submissions by universities nationwide

The "University Comics Webtoon Championship" will be held in Daejeon, the city of webtoons.

The city of Daejeon will host the "2025 University Comics Webtoon Championship" at the Daejeon Esports Arena for three days, from November 14 to 16, 2025.

This event, now in its fifth year, was previously known as the "Daejeon International Webtoon Job Fair." However, in line with Daejeon's webtoon industry development strategy and to focus more on fostering creative talent, the event has been renamed this year to the "University Comics Webtoon Championship."

The competition invites submissions and awards from students majoring in webtoon studies nationwide, and features a variety of side events such as one-on-one matching consultations with webtoon companies, webtoon artist talk shows, and networking sessions for creators. Through these activities, the event aims to create a platform for the next generation of webtoon creators.

This initiative is expected to promote exchanges between local artists and companies from the Seoul metropolitan area, as well as discover new promising creators, laying the foundation for Daejeon's leap forward as a city of webtoons.

During the event, an exhibition of participating students' works will be open at all times in the first-floor lobby of the Daejeon Esports Arena, while student and company consultations will be held on the third floor auxiliary arena on November 14 and 15.

The opening ceremony will take place at 5:00 p.m. on November 14, followed by the Daejeon Webtoon Science Forum, the awards ceremony, and a creator networking event. On November 15, a webtoon artist talk show and autograph session featuring popular webtoon artists will be held.

This year's awards ceremony saw a total of 156 works submitted from webtoon departments across the country, with 48 works selected for awards.

Daejeon City expects this event to serve as an opportunity for young creators from all over the country who major in webtoons to gather in Daejeon, thereby expanding the competitiveness and talent pool of the local webtoon industry.

Over the past decade, Daejeon has achieved serialization of 130 webtoons on Naver and Kakao platforms, expanded into eight overseas markets (North America, France, Germany, Japan, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Thailand), and commercialized 95 One Source Multi Use (OSMU) projects, establishing itself as a prominent city for webtoons both at home and abroad.

Notably, works such as "A Killer Paradox" by Kkomabi on Netflix, "Square" by Oh Sehyung on Netflix, and "Connect" by Shin Daesung on Disney+ are cited as leading examples of webtoon IPs from Daejeon-based creators being adapted into global OTT productions.

Daejeon City is working to foster webtoon talent and expand the industry's foundation in the central region through the "Webtoon IP Advanced Cluster" initiative. The city is making every effort to secure national funding for 2026 and has invested approximately 700 million won this year to actively promote projects such as establishing webtoon industry infrastructure, operating a webtoon campus, and nurturing local creators.

Lee Jangwoo, Mayor of Daejeon, stated, "I hope the University Comics Webtoon Championship will become a leading national competition where young creators can pursue their dreams and showcase their skills," adding, "Once the Webtoon IP Advanced Cluster is established, these creative talents will grow within the region and generate a powerful synergy effect, propelling Daejeon to the forefront of global K-webtoons."

Meanwhile, the event is open to anyone interested in webtoons free of charge, and visitors during the event period can directly appreciate the high-quality works submitted by aspiring webtoon artists from across the country.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.