Minister Choi Huigyoung Presides Over Cultural and Artistic Policy Advisory Committee Webtoon Subcommittee Meeting

Choi Huigyoung, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, will preside over the third meeting of the Webtoon Subcommittee of the Cultural and Artistic Policy Advisory Committee at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, on the afternoon of May 28. During this meeting, participants will discuss strategies for advancing "K-Webtoon" onto the global stage and listen to the voices from the field.

The Cultural and Artistic Policy Advisory Committee was launched under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on November 10 last year. The committee consists of ten subcommittees, including those for webtoons, popular music, film, and video. The webtoon subcommittee includes representatives from creators (Won Suyeon and Jo Gwangjin), associations and organizations (Kim Byungsoo, Kim Shin, and Shin Ilsuk), and the industry (Choi Wonyoung).

Choi Huieong, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

During this third meeting, members will share the progress and future plans for major initiatives proposed by the advisory committee, including expanding support for overseas expansion, eradicating illegal distribution, and strengthening support for creators.

The Ministry plans to increase the relevant budget to systematically support K-Webtoon's entry into overseas markets. This includes expanding multilingual translation support and scaling up projects for discovering locally tailored content. In addition, a new initiative will be introduced to support secondary commercialization so that high-quality webtoon intellectual property (IP) can be adapted into other fields such as film and animation.

Efforts will also be intensified to eradicate illegal distribution, a chronic problem in the webtoon industry. With the amendment of the Copyright Act in February, new systems for emergency blocking and access blocking of illegal distribution sites were introduced and have been in effect since May 11. Based on this strengthened legal foundation, the Ministry will immediately block illegal sites as soon as they are detected and continue to monitor alternative and similar sites after the blocking, aiming to minimize industry damage.

Support for creators, who are the foundation of the creative ecosystem, will also be strengthened. The Ministry will expand support for the production of diverse comics and for the early stages of creation, and will newly launch a publication support project to help outstanding works make it to publication. Furthermore, by utilizing regional hubs such as "Webtoon Campus," the Ministry plans to create opportunities for exchanges between local artists and associations or organizations, thereby laying the groundwork for a self-sustaining regional webtoon ecosystem.

During this meeting, there will also be a free discussion on current industry issues and projects that need to be included in the new budget for 2027.

Minister Choi Huigyoung stated, "Webtoons are a key driving force in reshaping our content industry, but the growth has slowed and there are significant challenges in overseas expansion. We are at a critical crossroads. By listening carefully to the vivid voices from the field, we will develop effective policies that will enable the webtoon industry to take a significant leap forward in the global market."

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