By Honorary Reporter Jadiene Shani Teng from Philippines
Photos = Jadiene Shani Teng

The Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in Taguig, the Philippines, through Aug. 10 is hosting the event "K-Comics World Tour in the Philippines" at Groundspace Gallery of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. This is the first of several exhibitions this year abroad by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Korea Creative Content Agency to spread Korean webtoons worldwide.

On the event's first day of June 21, I attended a workshop at the KCC featuring Cho Hye-seung, a webtoonist who heads Creative SUMM. She discussed her career, the creation of the hit webtoon "The Red Sleeve" and the Korean webtoon industry. 

Starting as a part-time worker at an animation company, she followed an employee's suggestion to launch her own business, which eventually expanded to webtoons.

Webtoon entrepreneur Cho Hye-seung on June 21 speaks at a webtoon workshop as part of the event "K-Comics World Tour in the Philippines" at Groundspace Gallery of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila in Taguig.

Her company's most famous work is "The Red Sleeve," based on a novel about King Jeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty. Initially, Cho doubted its success due to the small webtoon market and limited interest in historical genres, but the webtoon grew popular in being exported to countries like Russia, Spain and Thailand, and reaching over 100 million views and 140 episodes. Its conclusion is set for release in this year's third quarter.

 
What struck me most about "The Red Sleeve" was its historical accuracy. Cho stressed the importance of getting even tiny details correct, like correct depictions of Gyeongbokgung Palace and Korean books of that era. 

Her lecture sparked my curiosity about webtoons and their rapidly growing industry in Korea, especially their potential to expand to the global maket for intellectual property in platforms like novels, dramas, animation and video games. 

Afterwards, attendees had five minutes to create a four-panel webtoon for Cho to critique. Many eagerly lined up, receiving tips on background composition and character positioning. As a beginner, I struggled with my webtoon but Cho offered valuable advice.

"Start with a short and light topic and make sure to finish it. When you start something, you're halfway there. I keep this in mind as I continue learning and practicing webtoon creation," she said.

After the workshop, I roamed around the exhibition space, which displays two webtoons that have expanded on the one-source multi-use market: "The Red Sleeve" and "What's Wrong with Secretary Kim." Both are global hits as webtoons and K-dramas, plus "Secretary Kim" has seen a Philippine drama adaptation.

"The Red Sleeve" exhibition includes both webtoon scenes and K-drama videos on display. 

The "Secretary Kim" exhibition shows settings from both the webtoon and K-drama like the vice chairman's office and the secretary's reception desk. Visitors can try on the secretary's clothing, write love letters to display or drop in a mailbox and stamp artworks featuring the characters to take home as souvenirs.

On the right is the office of the vice chairman from "What's Wrong with Secretary Kim" and on the right is a wall panel that introduces the webtoon.

What I loved most about this exhibition is how it immerses visitors in the webtoon space through panels on the walls, huge yet detailed character art and creative set designs. Each section also provides information on the webtoon's story and its characters. Moreover, interactive activities add a special touch to the exhibition, and I loved taking a piece of the exhibition through postcards and stamped cards.

msjeon22@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.