'Manatokki' Operator, Who Acquired Japanese Citizenship, Repatriated and Referred in Custody

Manatokki Operator Repatriated After Four Years in Japan
First Extradition Case Under Korea-Japan Extradition Treaty

The key operator of 'Manatokki,' the largest illegal comic and webtoon sharing site in South Korea, has been repatriated from Japan and handed over to the prosecution. This comes four years after fleeing to Japan to escape a police investigation.

The Cyber Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency announced on June 28 that it had referred A (37) to the prosecution in custody on charges including violation of copyright law.

'Manatokki' is the largest illegal comic and webtoon site in South Korea, attracting users by providing official paid content for free. The site continuously generated controversy for copyright infringement by posting Japanese comics and domestic webtoons without authorization. It was also found to have posted a large number of gambling banner advertisements, earning significant advertising revenue.

A 37-year-old core operator of 'Manatoki,' the largest illegal comic and webtoon sharing site in Korea, is being repatriated to Korea through Gimpo Airport on the 11th. Photo by Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency

According to the police, A is accused of purchasing Japanese comic e-books and other content between March 2019 and July 2021, then translating and reproducing them in Korean and uploading about 1,400 comics and webtoons to Manatokki.

To evade investigation, A operated the site using overseas servers and, after leaving for Japan in 2017, obtained Japanese nationality in 2022, thereby avoiding pursuit by domestic investigative agencies for an extended period.

The police, in cooperation with Interpol’s red notice, Japanese investigative authorities, the Ministry of Justice, and the prosecution, succeeded in locating A in Japan and securing custody. Subsequently, A was repatriated to South Korea on the 11th under the Korea-Japan Extradition Treaty signed in 2002. This marks the first time a Japanese national has been extradited to South Korea under this treaty.

The police are expanding their investigation, suspecting that A was also involved in operating other illegal websites such as the illegal web novel site 'Booktokki' and the illegal webtoon site 'Newtokki.' These platforms are cited as representative illegal sites that have caused significant copyright damage to the domestic publishing and webtoon industries.

The police plan to trace the funds for asset recovery in cooperation with the pan-governmental Transnational Crime Special Response Task Force. A police official stated, "We will relentlessly pursue online copyright infringement crimes to arrest operators and thoroughly recover illegal profits."

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