South Korean web novels become a trend of their own

Sep 3, 2026

Upload by Angel

South Korean web novels have surged rapidly, driven by easy-to-read storytelling and a rapidly expanding market. Reported estimates show growth from around 10 billion won in 2013 to 270 billion won by 2017, with sales reaching about 400 billion won last year. Popularity has led to six-figure annual earnings for some authors and a high share of top earners. The article highlights the expanding influence of “one-source, multi-use” adaptations across dramas, cartoons, webtoons, games, and international exports.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages103

Reading Time2 h 39 min

AccessFree to download

South Korean web novels becomea trend of their own

Market growth and reader demand

One-source, multi-use adaptations and platforms

Competitions and global expansion

15 米 vol. K-Book Trends offers Korea's highly informative publishing contentto those in the global publishing industry. 米 ((·)www.kpipa.or.kr Contents TREND TopicSouth Korean web novels become a trend of their own Special Project K-Book in Berlin Export Casee-future,a business specializing in ELT content Busan Book Trip INTERVIEW Korean Publishers East-Asia Publishing Korean Authors Wookwan Sunim KNOWLEDGE Publishing Industry Social media,or word-of-mouth marketing a must-have for one-person publishing companies Publishing Policy Discussions on public lending rights and tasks ahead INFORMATION New BooksKakao Friends Essay SeriesBest SellersSouth Korean bestsellers in AugustBook SummaryExport Prospects of Korean Books TREND # South Korean web novels becomea trend of their own Written by Lee Yu-jin (Reporter at The Kyunghyang Shinmun) The web novel market in South Korea has been expanding at abreakneck pace,with readers drawn to their easy-to-read content.According to the Korea Creative Content Agency,the web novelmarket in South Korea was estimated to be around 10 billion wonin 2013,and by 2017,it had expanded to 270 billion won.Last year,sales of web novels alone amounted to around 400 billion won.Inline with this soaring popularity and growing market,there are nowweb novel authors who earn six-figures a year.In 2016,8.2 percentof all web novelists were found to be earning more than 10 millionwon per year. Web novels with unlimited versatility stand in the center of anew trend Poster for the television drama adaptation of What's Wrong with Secretary Kim (left)and cover art for the original web novel (right) After television drama What's Wrong with Secretary Kim aired onSouth Korean cable channel tvN last year,audiences who watchedthe series have ended up reading more web novels as a result.Theoriginal web novel upon which the television series was basedwas an immensely popular web novel on Kakao Page,a web novelplatform,with over 500 million views after it was uploaded in 2013.After the web novel became popular,it was adapted into a cartoonformat,which was later adapted into the television drama series. What's Wrong with Secretary Kim(Gaha)isn't the only web novelthat was adapted into a television drama series.Author JangHo's Justice(Hainaim)was also adapted into a television drama and aired on KBS 2TV starting July 17 this year.The web novelis a courtroom mystery about a famous lawyer who has chosendepravity over justice for vendetta,and a genius prosecutorworking against him who has a memory that operates on overdrive.The web novel was published in physical form just as the televisiondrama started airing.Moon Embracing the Sun(Paran Media)wasalso a web novel on South Korea's biggest romance novel platform,Romantique,which was later adapted into a television drama in2012.The drama boasted viewership rates of over 40 percent at thetime,marking great success.Love in the Moonlight(Yollimwon),whose television adaptation aired in 2016,made the news aftermonthly sales for the original web novel jumped over 500 millionwon as the drama was being aired. What's Wrong With Secretary Kim,Justice Web novels are increasing their influence thanks to 'one-source,multi-use'content.Transformations by web novels have proven tobe limitless.Another web novel on Kakao Page called The Magician(Minumsa)was adapted into a movie in 2015 starring Yoo Seung-ho and Go Ara.Games like “Taming Master”and “Maybe”takeplace in worlds adapted from web novels. Take Me,So/Married an Anti-fan Adaptations of web novels into webtoons are also worth takingnote of because after they find new life through webtoons,webnovels have found it easy to reach audiences outside South Korea.One representative case would be Noh Seung-ah's Honey HoneyWedding,a web novel that raised more than 100 million wonworth in sales per month on Naver Web Novel's 'Preview'corner.The web novel was later adapted into a webto

FAQs

How fast has the South Korean web novel market grown?

The market grew from about 10 billion won in 2013 to around 270 billion won by 2017, with web novel sales reaching roughly 400 billion won last year.

Why are web novels becoming a major content trend in South Korea?

Their popularity is fueled by accessible formats and strong “one-source, multi-use” conversion into dramas, webtoons, and other media, expanding their reach beyond the original audience.

What adaptation formats are highlighted in the article?

The article covers television drama adaptations, transformations into webtoons, movie adaptations, and even game worlds based on web novel settings.

Sep 3, 2026

Upload by Angel