Naver Webtoon promises creative freedom, responsible webtoon platform
Naver Webtoon, South Korean tech giant Naver’s online platform for comics, manga and webtoons, announced Friday that it will improve policies to create an appropriate environment for its creators and readers, while apologizing for the recent controversy involving webtoon series “Pong Pong Man From Another World.”
The series follows the story of a 39-year-old man and his wife, who married a financially stable man purely for economic gain. It came under fire for misogyny in September after passing the first round of judging for The Greatest Webtoon Contest 2024. The annual contest is hosted by Naver Webtoon to promote the creative content industry and local webtoons as well as find creators to lead the company.
Though Pong Pong, the creator behind “Pong Pong Man From Another World,” commented that his series was not made to spark hatred among Koreans or make fun of anything, readers continued to fiercely debate the series. Some argue that it shows South Korea’s reality, while others believe it reflects a deeply misogynistic view of Korean woman.
Though the series passed the first round, the three-season webtoon failed to win any prize at this year’s contest.
“We did not exclude ‘Pong Pong Man From Another World’ from the competition. The series fell short in the contest's second round,” a Naver Webtoon official explained The Korea Herald on Friday.
Apologizing for any inconvenience caused by the recent incident, Naver Webtoon promised to manage an advisory committee with industry insiders and experts outside of the company, who can objectively review not only the policies of the contest, but the entire Naver Webtoon service platform as well.
“After communicating with the committee, Naver Webtoon employees and webtoon creators, we will make efforts to ensure creative freedom, become a responsible webtoon platform and pay more attention to creators, readers and their opinions,” said Naver Webtoon official, citing the company's official statement.
By Lee Si-jin(sj_lee@heraldcorp.com)
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