By Jung Joo-ri

For aficionados of thriller webtoons, webtoon writer and artist Hwang Junho is his own genre.

His debut work "Evil," released in 2009, is a love story between a man and a woman who are both serial killers. His other stories like "A Good Day to Study" (2010), "Forest of Humans" (2012), "Future Girl" (2015), "Blood and Flesh" (2019) and "Selection Class" (2023) also portray the hidden spine-chilling sides of humans.

"Forest of Humans," his leading work, unfolds at a prison camp for psychopathic murderers. The webtoon is intended for those age 18 or above due to its unconventional material and violence but maintains a high rating of 9.98 through its many fans.

This webtoon has been translated into English, Japanese, Spanish and Indonesian and a TV adaptation is coming thanks to its popularity.

In a Korea.net interview on July 7 at his studio in Seoul's Yongsan-gu District, Hwang, who releases a new installment of a webtoon every Tuesday, spoke about his work, webtoon creation methods, copyright issues and other topics related to webtoons.

The following are excerpts from the interview.

You began a webtoon series for the first time in three years. What is your daily routine?
For a webtoon artist, one day is like a week. Because I must produce on a weekly basis, I divide the days into those working on the storyboard and those for sketches. My daily schedule changes depending on how much of my work I get done. After finishing the script, I create the storyboard and draw the pictures. The plot and storyboard take the longest, with each taking two days. I can get help from assistant artists for the pictures but not the plot, so the latter takes a long time.

How did you become a webtoon artist?
I took time off in my senior year of college while majoring in visual design and decided to complete a cartoon, something on my bucket list. Since I couldn't draw, I thought I should try to write a good story and decided on the thriller genre for its strong plots. I thought, 'To draw a thriller, you need serial killers but what is a serial killer and a psychopath?' Based on this question, I went to the school library, searched for relevant books and drew my debut work. 14 years have passed since I started to draw (laughs).

Why did you choose webtoons instead of comics?
Comics have limited space on paper and their frames are on a large page, so the movement of reader eyes is very dynamic. Because each cut is a different size, the composition becomes diverse. 

In a webtoon, however, each cut is of a fixed size on the screen so the creation method is similar to that of a video. While a webtoon is strong in depicting the psychology of characters, a comic excels in conveying dynamics like in the action genre. In my case, I chose to draw webtoons because I wanted meticulous depictions.

For foreign readers unfamiliar with webtoons, what do you think is the format's appeal?
Webtoons comprise content that has developed along with smartphones, which are tools that keep humans distant most from life. So I think the irony of trying living analogue life through a digital tool is the format's appeal.

"Forest of Humans" abroad is seen as Korean horror. What are your thoughts on this?
My webtoons have no ghosts and simply depict humans, but I think people are afraid of seeing works showing the sides of humans rarely discussed. I think my works show aspects of life people have turned a blind eye to. It seems that Korean horror refers to fear of cause and effect created by people and society. Maybe my stuff is viewed as Korean horror since the human characters depicted commit heinous acts and are thus depicted as gruesome in the process.

Why have you stuck with the horror and thriller genre?
To draw a webtoon, you must draw them in your head like a scene from a dream. To reach this level, you need immersion under a single theme. Air Supply, the Australian soft rock group, once said music chose them than vice versa. It's the same with me. I didn't choose webtoons but they chose me, so I think I'll continue to focus on the dark aspects of humans. 

With 14 years of experience, you probably have much to say about webtoons. Why do you think the format has surged in popularity in the 21st century?
Korea's comic book industry started to collapse from the late 1990s. The publication methods failed but the stories remained. People with such stories met the window known as webtoons. Thus artists who never had a chance on the comic book market and those who couldn't express themselves started using webtoons to tell their stories. I also think the spirit of amateurism in trying anything and expressing things lightly and cheerfully also played a big role.

What do you think of piracy in webtoons through sites that illegally post them for free?

I think copyright problems depend on reader perspectives. People can watch movies illegally but a culture of not doing that anymore has formed. On the other hand, too many people read webtoons without paying. Even on illegal sites, there's less of tendency to think that it's wrong.

Did you join the Korea Copyright Protection Agency's campaign to protect webtoon copyrights to raise awareness of the issue to readers?
I had never joined relevant campaigns before but recently started because of my belief that when you have to act, you have to act. I don't know how many readers will change their minds after reading the relay webtoon, but wouldn't it be OK if even one out of 100 was swayed after reading the webtoon? Changing the world cannot be done in four to five years and it might be something we need to do over 50 years. So I think we need to look at it like that and take things slowly.

Finally, do you have a message for Korea.net readers who will read your webtoons?
My works might present Korea as dark but I want to say our country isn't like what is shown in "Parasite" (smiles). Korea has bright energy such as BTS. Only my works depict things like that, so I hope there's no misunderstanding.

etoilejr@korea.kr