Naver Webtoon

Naver Webtoon is the platform that invented the modern digital comics industry and turned it into a global IP pipeline worth billions. Originally launched in 2004 as a service of South Korean tech giant Naver Corporation, the platform pioneered the vertical-scroll webtoon format that has since become the default reading experience for digital comics worldwide. Operating globally as Webtoon Entertainment (NASDAQ: WBTN) after its June 2024 IPO, the platform hosts over 100 million monthly active users across 150+ countries. The numbers tell the story: creators on the platform have earned over $2.7 billion in total, and the global webtoon market that Naver effectively created is projected to exceed $56 billion by 2030. But Naver Webtoon's real power lies in its role as the dominant IP source for Korean screen adaptations. Hit properties including Sweet Home, All of Us Are Dead, and True Beauty all began as Naver Webtoon series before becoming Netflix and Disney+ originals. The Remarried Empress, one of the platform's most-read romance series, is being adapted as a Disney+ K-drama for 2026. Disney acquired a 2% equity stake in Webtoon Entertainment in January 2026, formalizing a content pipeline that had been building through licensing deals for years. The platform also feeds Korea's booming animation industry, with webtoons serving as source material for anime adaptations distributed across Asia. CJ ENM, Studio Dragon, and SLL have all adapted Naver Webtoon properties, making the platform an essential piece of the K-entertainment value chain. Naver Webtoon's creator-first model, which allows independent artists to publish and monetize their work directly on the platform, has produced a new generation of storytellers whose IP is now as valuable as any novelist's or screenwriter's. In a Korean entertainment ecosystem where content is king, Naver Webtoon is the kingdom's largest library.