alchedek

‘alchedek’, an English magazine produced in Korea, contains information on Korea’s Economy, Business, Enterprise, Industry, and Culture.

alchedek • VOL. 03 DECEMBER 2024

The Future of Republic of Korea’s Soft Power at the Center of the World : Sustainable Media and Content Industry in the Digital Age

The Influence of Webtoons Breaking the Boundaries of the Content Industry, ‘NAVER Webtoon’ Alongside the Growth History of Korean Webtoons • The Republic of Korea is emerging as a powerhouse of soft power. Over the past 20 years, the cultural content of the Republic of Korea, which has made a name for itself in the global market through ‘Hallyu’, has now established a solid brand power known as ‘K-Content’. The size of the South Korean cultural content market, represented by games, webtoons, movies, and music, was approximately 79.1 billion dollars as of 2023, ranking 7th in the world. At the center of the explosive growth of the Republic of Korea cultural content market is webtoons. Since the 2000s, webtoons have gradually gained popularity and have grown to a scale of 12.5 trillion won. According to the 2023 Webtoon Industry Survey(Companies and Writers) by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency, the sales revenue of the Republic of Korea webtoon industry in 2022 was recorded at an all-time high of 1.829 trillion won. The government has expressed its intention to support the Republic of Korea in leading the global comic and webtoon industry by fostering comics and webtoons as the next-generation national strategic industries, following K-pop and e-sports, to drive K-content. Global No.1 Storytech Platform NAVER WEBTOON is the driving force behind the growth of the Republic of Korea webtoon industry. Since 2005, NAVER WEBTOON has pioneered the webtoon-based content market and has been at the forefront of discovering and nurturing domestic and international creators to provide content enjoyed by users worldwide. Furthermore, as the largest and best content platform in the Republic of Korea, we are expanding content areas such as dramas and games to create a new content ecosystem.

K-Content Industry Making People Around the World Happy, Republic of Korea Emerges as a Cultural Powerhouse • K-Content, standing at the center of the global stage, is elevating its status as a cultural phenomenon influencing the entire world. There is growing anticipation that K-Content will significantly contribute to the rise in national brand value and become a future growth industry driving the innovative growth of the national economy. The Korea Creative Content Agency is leading the sustainable growth and global expansion of the Korean content industry.

The Vanguard of Elevating the Status of K-Webtoons : ‘Content Localization’ Brings the Joy of Content to More People • In the post-COVID-19 era, OSMU(One Source Multi Use) has established itself as a new way to enjoy content. It is no longer unfamiliar to see webtoons becoming the original works for dramas and movies, and expanding into games. Tooning Co., Ltd. is a key player in leading the ‘globalization of webtoons’. By translating Korean webtoons into various languages around the world, they are spearheading the expansion of K-culture’s territory.

“The trend changes, but the laughter does not change”, Global IP Creative Group, Garnet Pictures Co., Ltd., which will capture hearts around the world • The content market is growing rapidly every year. Digital technology has democratized content creation and sharing, leading to a daily flux of innumerable content pieces across various platforms. Among them, some become global trends and remain as symbols of the era. In this fast-paced consumption and disappearance of content, how will the next trend emerge? Garnet Pictures Co., Ltd. focuses on this question. They keenly capture the ever-changing trends and analyze the...