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It explains why Korean players are positioned to benefit across the webtoon value chain, supported by rising global user bases, profit-sharing discussions for adaptations, and increasing OTT spending on drama content. Provides an investment strategy reviewing major studios and platform/content providers, with target price actions for key picks and rationale for expected market expansion.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/k-content-webtoons-and-dramas-strengthening-growth-profile-investment-strategy-and-key-recommendations/149147/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/k-content-webtoons-and-dramas-strengthening-growth-profile-investment-strategy-and-key-recommendations/149147.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Riley West","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-07","2026-08-27",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",14,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"Why has K-content become a global buzzword and growth driver?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"Korean dramas and webtoons have built distinct brand identity as adaptations are marketed around their Korean origins. As content supply increases across new platforms and formats, brand power becomes more critical for attracting traffic.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"How are webtoons expected to support expansion of drama production capacity?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"Webtoon content is highlighted as a catalyst for rapid expansion by providing proven sources for screen adaptations. User inflow to webtoons is expected to accelerate as adaptations succeed.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"What investment strategy and picks are presented for major Korean players?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"The report discusses re-ratings for webtoon platform/content providers and drama content producers as global OTT competition grows. It provides specific target price actions for Kidari Studio, Studio Dragon, and maintains D&C Media, with rationale tied to adaptation synergies and global growth opportunities.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},149147,1787794478,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":140,"language":141,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":142,"faqs":143,"seo_title":144,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":130,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},1099523885074,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","[Korea] January 18, 2021  \nMedia/Entertainment (Overweight/Maintain)  \nWebtoons and dramas: Strengthening growth profile  \nMirae Asset Daewoo Co., Ltd.  \n[Jeong-yeob Park](Jeong-yeob Park jay.park@miraeasset.com)[ jay.park@miraeasset.com](Jeong-yeob Park jay.park@miraeasset.com)  \n\n| The power of K-content | Global market share of K-content to expand on the back of strong brand identity\u003Cbr>􀀁 Korea has emerged as a cultural powerhouse, winning Academy Awards and topping Billboard charts.\u003Cbr>􀀁 A strong brand identity has grown around K-content, aided by Korea’s economic development and success in films/music/webtoons/dramas.\u003Cbr>􀀁 In the webtoon space, high-quality platforms have expanded their global footprint and helped to increase the overall market size, partly driven by the appeal of the format itself.\u003Cbr>􀀁 Competition among global OTT players has fueled spending on drama content, leading to an increase in deals for production companies. |\n| --- | --- |\n| Korean players are poised to benefit | Directly benefiting from market expansion amid growing popularity of K-content\u003Cbr>􀀁 K-content, once thought of as “niche” or “Asia-oriented,” has expanded its reach to global audiences.\u003Cbr>􀀁 Korean players have: 1) raised their profiles as video/music content providers; and 2) securedan early lead across the webtoon value chain (platforms and content providers).\u003Cbr>􀀁 Simply put, once-small players have grown into formidable content providers and platform operators.\u003Cbr>􀀁 We expect the webtoon and drama markets to continue to expand for quite sometime, backed by: 1) the unique characteristics of each market; and 2) synergies between the two markets.\u003Cbr>􀀁 Webtoons: Webtoons have quickly taken hold as a distinct mobile-based market (separate from paper comics). We expect user inflow to accelerate, spurred by the success of adaptations.\u003Cbr>􀀁 Dramas: Steady replacement demand (new titles), proven sources (webtoons), and the marketing needs of OTT services should support the growth of the drama market. |\n\nInvestment strategy Major drama studios and webtoon platform/content providers to undergo re-ratings  \n􀀁 Webtoon platform/content providers: Globally, the number of webtoon users and webtoon transaction value are continuing to grow. Discussions on profit sharing for copyright holders are getting underway for screen adaptations of titles released in the past two to three years.  \n􀀁 Drama content producers: Global contracts for big-budget titles tend to precede or accompany the growth of global OTT platforms. We expect the value of content producers to rise, as recently launched domestic and global OTT platforms should lead to increased competition.  \n􀀁 Our top pick is Kidari Studio (webtoon platform/content provider): We initiate coverage of the stock and present a target price ofW17,000. Kidari Studio’s acquisition of Lezhin Entertainment has given it a dominant position in niche genres. We expect the company to benefit from acquisition synergies (distribution leverage) and see increasing market opportunities from drama adaptations of niche genres.  \n􀀁 Studio Dragon: We raise our target price to W120,000. We believe Studio Dragon has the best access to webtoons and OTTs services among video content producers.  \n􀀁 D&C Media: We maintain our target price of W45,000. We expect D&C Media to benefit from growth not only in Korea and Japan but also in China and the US.  \nKorean players securing a leading position in the global content value chain  \nSource: Mirae Asset Daewoo Research  \nAnalysts who prepared this report are registered as research analysts in Korea but not in any other jurisdiction, including the US. PLEASE SEE ANALYST CERTIFICATIONSAND IMPORTANT DISCLOSURESAND DISCLAIMERS IN APPENDIX 1 ATTHE END OF REPORT.  \nJanuary 18, 2021 Media/Entertainment  \nC O N T E N T S  \nI. Korea emerging as a content powerhouse 3  \nSecuring leading position on the back of K-content’s strong brand power 3  \nKorea: No. 2 country in terms of Netflix content","cbCaibkMPnrCLpal","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaibkMPnrCLpal","pdf",1653266,44,"English","# Korea emerging as a content powerhouse\n## Securing leading position on the back of K-content’s strong brand power\n## Korea: No. 2 country in terms of Netflix content power (dramas)\n# Expansion of drama production capacity\n## Right timing and right moves\n## Webtoon content to drive rapid expansion of drama production capacity\n# Rise of webtoon platforms\n## Webtoon Entertainment (NAVER Webtoon): Unrivaled global leader\n## Kakao Page/Piccoma: Expanding its reach across Asia\n## Kidari Studio-Lezhin Entertainment: A union of two niche-genre powerhouses\n## Drama/film adaptations: A new driver in the webtoon value chain\n# Key recommendations\n## Kidari Studio\n## Studio Dragon\n## D&C Media","[{\"question\":\"Why has K-content become a global buzzword and growth driver?\",\"answer\":\"Korean dramas and webtoons have built distinct brand identity as adaptations are marketed around their Korean origins. As content supply increases across new platforms and formats, brand power becomes more critical for attracting traffic.\"},{\"question\":\"How are webtoons expected to support expansion of drama production capacity?\",\"answer\":\"Webtoon content is highlighted as a catalyst for rapid expansion by providing proven sources for screen adaptations. User inflow to webtoons is expected to accelerate as adaptations succeed.\"},{\"question\":\"What investment strategy and picks are presented for major Korean players?\",\"answer\":\"The report discusses re-ratings for webtoon platform/content providers and drama content producers as global OTT competition grows. It provides specific target price actions for Kidari Studio, Studio Dragon, and maintains D\\u0026C Media, with rationale tied to adaptation synergies and global growth opportunities.\"}]","K-content Webtoons and Dramas Strengthening Growth Profile - Investment Strategy and Key Recommendations | PDF",111]