President Moon Jae-in on Nov. 3 wears a mask featuring a character from a popular webtoon (online comic) to mark Comics Day in a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae. (Cheong Wa Dae's Facebook page)

By Lee Kyoung Mi and Lee Jihae

President Moon Jae-in on Nov. 3 took out a mask toward the end of a Cabinet meeting. The grayish blue mask was not the usual white one he wears, and even had a webtoon (online comic) character on it.

Cheong Wa Dae Spokesperson Kang Min-seok said in a written briefing that the president wore the mask at the meeting that morning at Cheong Wa Dae. The chief executive said he wore the mask made by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to promote the content industry.

On the occasion of Comics Day, the president said that amid the COVID-19 pandemic, webtoons were all the rage in the country and noted their active overseas expansion.

Korean webtoons are well received in the U.S. and the global comic power Japan, where they have topped sales, he said, adding that Korean comics are considered part of "New Hallyu" and a leading genre of Korean content.

The character on the president's mask was Kim Hyun, the protagonist of the webtoon "TEN" who overcomes violence at his school. This wildly popular series by webtoonist Lee Eun-jae has attracted more than 100 million views.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Yang-woo told the Cabinet meeting, "Korea ranks fifth in the global comics market and Korea's webtoon platforms are dominating the digital cartoon markets of many countries," adding, "We decided to make these webtoon masks because having webtoon characters on the masks helps exports and comforts students taking in-person classes."

President Moon said students probably find it frustrating to wear masks, so putting webtoon characters on masks can encourage mask wearing among them.

He also introduced the ministry's proposal that Cabinet members wear such masks at meetings to promote the domestic webtoon industry.

The president asked every government branch to suggest ideas without hesitation, welcoming those that seem novel and even silly.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Nov. 3 released masks featuring characters from popular webtoons to mark Comics Day. (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)