A leading power in the new era of the Korean Wave, webtoons are expanding their global presence and being adapted into different formats: TV dramas, variety shows, films and K-pop.

Though Korean webtoon companies began global businesses in 2014, it is only in the last few years that the companies have been seeing a major uptick in international markets.

Industry insiders and experts point to quality translations and the fostering of local webtoon creators as contributing to the successful globalization of the webtoon.

Kakao Entertainment launched a webtoon service in France this year and is seeking to enter other European countries. The expansion in Europe comes several years after the launch of Kakao Piccoma, Kakao’s online webtoon platform in Japan, in 2016.

Strong intellectual property-based webtoon series and partnerships with leading digital publishers around the world are essential for successful globalization.

When it comes to its localization strategy, Kakao Entertainment believes the right translation is everything.

“Choosing the title is the first step in localization. Language usage in various countries, including the use of onomatopoeia, mimetic, polite words, religion and other cultural factors, are carefully considered in the process of translating,” a Kakao Entertainment official said.

“Webtoon series are unique cultural content, which differs greatly from videos, novels and even graphic novels. To draw readers' attention, the translator needs to be fluent in the language used in webtoons,” Lee Jae-won, a global localization team leader at Kakao Entertainment told.

“We aim to successfully deliver the creator’s messages and intention with translations and graphic adaptations that are appropriate to each target country. With our localization teams, Kakao Entertainment seeks to allow readers to learn, indirectly experience and enjoy different cultures without difficulty,” Lee added.

Having launched its first English service in July 2014, leading South Korean webtoon giant Naver Webtoon recorded more than 82 million global users and released 2,300 webtoon series (among 5,500 projects) in the global webtoon market in 2020, according to Korea Creative Content Agency.

While agreeing on the importance of sophisticated translation, Naver Webtoon's global strategy relies largely on finding new creators to develop the webtoon market in their respective countries.

“I believe the growth of webtoon business largely depends on discovering new talents and creating webtoon series that cater to the local readers' tastes.”