한국국제교류재단

One of the most important factors in the popularity of K-dramas is their close connection with web novels and webtoons. Using proven original stories to produce TV shows is an effective strategy to cut production risks, given the maturity of web fiction in Korea.

(Clockwise from left)
“Annarasumanara” by Ha Il-kwon (2010-2011, NAVER WEBTOON); “Tomorrow” by Llama (2017-present, NAVER WEBTOON); “Business Proposal,” written by Perilla and drawn by NARAK (2018-2020, Kakao Page); “Hellbound,” written by Yeon Sang-ho and drawn by Choi Gyu-seok (2021, NAVER WEBTOON); “All of Us Are Dead” by Joo Dong-geun (2009-2011, NAVER WEBTOON); and “Taxi Driver” (a.k.a. “Red Cage”), written by CARLOS and drawn by KeuKeuJ.J. (2020-2022, NAVER WEBTOON; 2023-, Kakao Page).

“Business Proposal” :© Kakao Webtoon / “Taxi Driver” © TOONEED / Others, Courtesy of NAVER WEBTOON (WEBTOON)

The most popular K-drama of 2022 was probably “All of Us Are Dead,” which Netflix streamed in more than 90 countries. According to FlixPatrol, which provides OTT streaming ratings, it was the most-watched show on Netflix globally soon after its release in January this year, and still remains in the top ten, sitting in sixth place as of the end of October. Based on the eponymous webtoon by Joo Dong-geun, the show is about students fighting for their lives when a zombie virus hits their school. Published on the NAVER WEBTOON platform, “All of Us Are Dead” was first released in May 2009 and the final episode (No. 130) in November 2011. An old webtoon that was Joo’s debut, it was adapted for television amid high expectations and some skepticism over its success. As it turned out, it became a global hit and was credited with broadening the scope of zombie thrillers.

Indeed, numerous K-dramas found on the global Netflix top 100 rankings this year were adapted from web novels or webtoons. Some examples are “Taxi Driver” (2021), “Business Proposal” (2022), “Tomorrow” (2022), and the Netflix original series “The Sound of Magic” (2022).

Making shows based on popular web novels or webtoons is an effective strategy to cut production risks because their public appeal is already proven – which also helps reduce publicity costs. In addition, by nature web fiction has a good chance of success when adapted for the small screen.

Lee Jae-kyoo’s “All of Us Are Dead” has maintained a spot in the Netflix Top 10 since its release in January 2022.
ⓒ Netflix

A scene from Episode 6 of Joo Dong-geun’s “All of Us Are Dead,” published by NAVER WEBTOON every Wednesday from 2009 to 2011. This work was so popular that it ranked high in the real-time search words every Wednesday right before its release.
Courtesy of NAVER WEBTOON (WEBTOON)

The Tacit Contract
Shows created from web fiction tend to have simple plots based on a single keyword, such as zombies, disaster, romance, action, healing or revenge. Audiences thus have a good idea of what to expect.

“Business Proposal,” aired on SBS from February to April this year, is a romantic comedy where the handsome and highly capable CEO falls in love with one of his employees. The original work is a web novel by Haehwa. Kakao Entertainment Corp. targeted the global market from the outset, releasing the first episode of the novel in August 2017 on its Kakao Page platform. In September the next year, it turned the novel into a webtoon, written by Perilla and drawn by NARAK. The TV show soon followed, expanding the scope of Kakao’s intellectual property.

The original novel sticks to the traditional romance formula: man meets woman; they overcome misunderstandings, conflicts, and external challenges; and everything ends happily. The heroine, Shin Ha-ri, never dreamed that she would meet her company’s CEO when she stands in for a friend on a blind date. Their relationship gets off on the wrong foot but they quickly fall in love and overcome all obstacles without too much difficulty. The audience already knows things will work out for them, as the rules of the genre dictate. The fun of romantic comedies comes from watching the tacit contract between the creators and the audience being fulfilled. In web novels and webtoons, plot twists that betray the audience’s expectations are rare.Some suggest that readers would shun clichés that they know too well. However, predictability can be offset by speedy progress in the story. Web fiction is serialized at very short intervals – five times a week for a web novel or once a week for a webtoon.

Publishing works on an online platform means having to convince the audience that they want to come back for more tomorrow or next week. So, every episode has to satisfy the readers in and of itself, though the whole story may run for as many as 100 episodes. Any major happening in the story should be resolved before the episode ends, or some clues should be provided, at least. These strategies keep the story from losing tension or falling into the trap of cliché.

“Business Proposal” (2022), based on the eponymous web novel by Haehwa. It gained global popularity, unprecedented for a drama simultaneously streamed on TV and OTT, thanks to its speedy progress and humorous tricks while staying true to the rules of romantic comedies.
Courtesy of Kakao Entertainment

A scene from Episode 2 of “Business Proposal,” published by Kakao Page (September 2018-December 2020) and Kakao Webtoon (October-December 2020). Perilla’s successful dramatization of the original story coupled with NARAK’s lovely drawings boosted it to the top of webtoon rankings, not only in Korea but also abroad.
ⓒ NARAK, Perilla and Haehwa

As Refreshing as Cold Soda
Fast-paced storytelling is one of the key requirements for smartphone content. Lengthy, profound, or complicated content is hard to deliver on a mobile platform. And it is not easy for readers to link what happened in the previous episodes to what they are reading now. To enhance the readers’ experience, the story should be straightforward and easy to understand at a glance. Therefore, the point is not the logic of the entire series but the plausibility and readability of each episode. This way, creators can live up to audiences’ expectations. In the recently aired TV series “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” self-contained stories were completed in one or two episodes, rather than the series being driven by a long story arc from start to finish. The series was designed for quick and easy consumption on a mobile device.

Koreans describe this type of story as “sa-ida,” which is literally lemon-flavored soda but figuratively means “a sense of relief or release.” A fast-moving story with few frustrations gives the audience catharsis and a feeling of refreshment, like drinking cold soda. This aspect is strong in web novels and webtoons, which are serialized at short intervals on a monetized platform.

“The Sound of Magic” (2022), based on the eponymous webtoon by Ha Il-kwon, is a show in the form of musical theater, the first of its kind made in Korea. It was popular not only for its musical aspects but also for reproducing the charm of the original visuals on the small screen.
ⓒ Netflix

Beyond Your Imagination
This “soda-like” storytelling can raise concerns that commercial considerations push the creators to bow to audiences’ demands or to tell similar stories over and over again. However, one of the benefits of online platforms is their ability to accommodate any tastes. They offer not only best-selling content but also works catering to niche markets.

Flexibility is possible because web fiction is generally the work of one-person creators. The risks of turning the creators’ imagination into content are considerably low compared to the costs of generating other types of content. That creators of web novels and webtoons can freely express what they have in mind with words or words and images alone holds infinite potential for highly individual and attractive products. Though web novels and webtoons are a good testbed for video content, as mentioned above, the huge costs of actually turning them into television and film once meant focus on only a few genres. But now the aggressive investment of online streaming companies has stimulated production of works based on formerly ignored titles – for example, “Sweet Home” (2020), a monster disaster story, “Hellbound” (2021), featuring supernatural beings, and “All of Us Are Dead” (2022).

Web novels and webtoons are a rich source of imaginative stories on virtually infinite subjects and genres, following the format that today’s consumers want. As long as these unique original works keep coming, K-dramas will continue to flourish.

The aggressive investment of global OTT companies has stimulated production of works based on formerly ignored titles. An example is “Sweet Home,” based on the eponymous webtoon written by Carnby Kim and drawn by Young-chan Hwang.
ⓒ Netflix

A scene from Episode 1 of “Tomorrow” by Llama. The first season of the original webtoon was published on NAVER WEBTOON from May 2017 to February 2021, followed by the second running from May 2021 to the present. The story is about the messengers of death who actually comfort suffering humans and convince them not to kill themselves.
Courtesy of NAVER WEBTOON (WEBTOON)

A scene from the MBC drama “Tomorrow” (2022), based on the eponymous webtoon by Llama. Actress Kim Hee-seon gained particular attention for her radical makeover into Goo Ryeon, the team captain of the messengers of death.
Courtesy of Netflix and MBC