Do Webtoon-Based TV Dramas Represent Transmedia Storytelling? - Industrial Factors Leading to Webtoon-Based TV Dramas

Aug 20, 2026

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Rising mobile media and snack-culture consumption have strengthened Korea’s webtoon industry, prompting TV production companies and broadcasters to transform webtoons into drama series. Using in-depth interviews with participants involved in webtoon-based TV drama production, the study examines the industrial context surrounding collaboration among webtoon platforms, broadcasting stations, and production companies. It evaluates how production practices can enable or limit the transmedia potential of webtoon narratives across media, focusing on cross-media adaptation and OSMU.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Research purpose and guiding questions

The Korean Webtoon Industry: An Overview

Platform origins and market growth

Platform expansion to mobile services

Industrial factors driving webtoon-based TV dramas

Prior successes and writer constraints

Cost-saving, risk reduction, and promotional leverage

Do Webtoon-Based TV Dramas Represent Transmedia Storytelling? Industrial Factors Leading to Webtoon-Based TV Dramas JI HOON PARK 1 JEEHYUN LEE Korea University, South Korea YONGSUK LEE Seoul Broadcasting System, South Korea With the rise of mobile media and snack culture, the webtoon has become a leading form of popular culture in Korea . Korea is also producing a growing number of webtoonbased TV dramas . If the proliferation of the mobile phone and the migration of traditional cartoonists to the mobile platform contribute to the emergence of the webtoon as a source for creative stories, it is the industrial factors and considerations that promote the practice of webtoon-based drama production . The following industrial factors lead to webtoon-based TV drama production: the success of earlier webtoon-based dramas (e.g. , Misaeng and Cheese in the Trap), the limited pool of top drama scriptwriters, the use of the webtoon as a cost-saving option (as opposed to hiring a top scriptwriter), the strategy of reducing the risk of hiring a mediocre scriptwriter, the use of the webtoonas a deal point when production companies pitch a show, and the effectiveness of promoting TV dramas on the basis of a webtoon’s existing reputation . Keywords: webtoon, webtoon-based drama, transmedia, cross-media adaptation, OSMU With the proliferation of mobile devices and snack culture, the webtoon (a type of online comic) has become a leading form of popular culture in Korea . In 2017, a total of 1,759 webtoons were published on various online platforms, such as Naver, Daum, Lezhin Comics, and Toptoon (Korea Manhwa Contents Agency, 2018) . In response to webtoons’ increasing popularity, TV production companies, broadcasting stations, and webtoon platforms are actively seeking opportunities to transform webtoons into TV dramas . The huge successes of the drama series Misaeng (tvN, 2014) and Cheese in the Trap (tvN, 2016), which are based on webtoons of the same titles, have accelerated the trend of turning webtoons into TV dramas (Baek, 2016) . Ji Hoon Park (corresponding author): [winterof93@korea.ac.kr](winterof93@korea.ac.kr) Jeehyun Lee: [jjm719jenny@gmail.com](jjm719jenny@gmail.com) Yongsuk Lee: [dragrock@gmail.com](dragrock@gmail.com) [Date submitted: 2018](Date submitted: 2018)‒[07](07)‒[07](07) 1 This article was supported by an Academy of Korean Studies Grant (AKS-2018-C01) . Copyright © 2019 (Ji Hoon Park, Jeehyun Lee, and Yongsuk Lee) . Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd). Available at [http://ijoc.org](http://ijoc.org). 2180 Ji Hoon Park, Jeehyun Lee, and Yongsuk Lee International Journal of Communication 13(2019) Critics and scholars have discussed the reasons underlying the popularity of webtoons in Korea (Doo, 2017; E. Jin, 2014) . However, few studies have identified the industrial context and production practices that motivate the TV industry to utilize webtoons as a source of TV drama storytelling. On the basis of in-depth interviews with individuals closely involved in the production of webtoon-based TV dramas, we investigate the industrial context of the collaboration among webtoon platforms, broadcasting stations, and production companies . This study is driven by our particular interest in the transmedia potential of webtoon-based TV dramas in the age of convergence culture (Jenkins, 2006) . Is the use of the webtoon narrative across different media platforms indicative of the larger phenomenon of transmedia storytelling? Or is webtoon-based TV drama production part of an industrial practice of cross-media adaptation or OSMU (one source multi use)? An examination of the production practices specific to the Korean TV industry reveals the factors that encourage or preclude the transmedia potential of webtoons . The Korean Webtoon Industry: An Overview The Korean webtoon can be traced back to the early 21st century, when Korea’s largest portal w

FAQs

为什么韩国出现了更多基于网络漫画的电视剧？

移动媒体普及和“零食文化”推动网络漫画成为主流流行文化，成功案例也加速了把网漫改编成电视剧的趋势。同时产业方积极寻找将网漫转化为影视内容的机会。

研究如何考察网漫改编电视剧的跨媒体潜力？

研究基于对紧密参与网漫改编电视剧生产者的深度访谈，分析网漫平台、广播机构与制作公司的协作情境，并评估生产实践如何促进或阻碍跨媒体潜力。

产业层面有哪些促成基于网漫的电视剧制作的关键因素？

包括早期改编剧的成功、顶级编剧资源有限、将网漫作为节省成本的选择、降低雇用不理想编剧的风险、在项目推介中以网漫作为交易要点，以及借助网漫既有口碑提升电视剧宣传效果。

Aug 20, 2026

Upload by Connor