The Korean gov. cannot tame the problem child of Korean comics.

South Korea's gov. cannot tame the problem child of Korean comics.

- SEO, CHAN-HWE(iam@seochanhwe.com) / Comics Columnist

On 4 February 2009, Lee Myeong-bak, then president of the Republic of Korea, said in a government office, "Can't we make something like Japan's Nintendo?" This statement was immediately met with ridicule. This was because a game or game maker of Nintendo's calibre couldn't just come out of the president's mouth. People nicknamed it "Myeongtendo," a combination of Nintendo and "Myeong," one of the names of the president at the time. Now, 15 years later, Myeongtendo has resurfaced in Korean politics.

On 23 January 2024, Minister of Culture Sports, and Tourism Yoo In-chon announced the direction for the development of the comics and webtoon industry. In short, throw money at the industry and grow it. One of the things that came out of the process was to "strategically foster global platforms like as Netflix and global companies and works" to increase their influence in the global webtoon market. There are also plans to create new awards such as the International Manhwa and Webtoon Awards, which will become a prestigious award ceremony like the Cannes Film Festival for comics and webtoons.

* Manhwa : A word meaning 'Comics' in Korean.  

* Webtoon : A word meaning 'Vertical Scroll format comics' origin in Korea.

The reason why the minister used the Cannes Film Festival as an example rather than the Angoulême International Comic Book Festival is because he is an actor and doesn't know much about comics. But the idea of giving money to foster a platform like Netflix is no different than the idea that they can create Netflix by giving money. As they themselves admit, Korea is the dominant country in 'Webtoon' field, so the global webtoon market is already dominated by large Korean companies.

In other words, this idea is another Myeongtendo, a statement that comes from the simple calculation that if you give money to companies that are already succeeding in dominating the market, you can become Netflix. The same goes for the idea of amending the Manhwa Stimulate Act to the Manhwa and Webtoon Industry Stimulate Act. The idea is to stimulate the industry, but to put it another way, it will completely exclude manga that does not fall under the industrial category.

But that's not the worst part of the announcement, it's the ulterior motive behind it. They call it a stimulate, but it's actually retaliation for "YounSeokYeolCha". <The "YounSeokYeolCha" incident occurred in 2022, when KOREA MANHWA CONTENTS AGENCY(Hangook Manhwa YeongSangJinHeungWon, hereinafter "Manjinwon") was "warned" by the government for selecting a cartoon satirising the current president and first lady as the winner of a cartoon contest held.

* title of student's cartoon 'YounSeokYeolCha' meaning YounSeokYeol(current president of Korea)+Yeolcha(train).

The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism had previously taken steps to withdraw the organisation's name sponsorship from the contest, but this is a more concrete retaliation. The festival, international comic book awards, workforce training, and other support measures have been carried out by Kisil Manjinwon for a long time, and much of it has been funded by the national government, not just the city of Bucheon, which is under its jurisdiction. This announcement is a declaration that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will do this directly.

Manjinwon has been pointed out many times inside and outside the industry for the corruption of certain people in positions of real power and the resulting problems with the work environment and fairness. From the perspective of industry members, it is indeed a 'problem child', and that problem child has power because it is the place that grants subsidies. Therefore, there are many things that need to be pointed out, but the government's announcement is not to improve the situation, but to bully and harass people for criticising the supreme dignity of the country with cartoons. It's like as North Korea.

And Myeongtendo is their only way to do it. I want to see Manjinwon normalised as much as anyone, but will this improve anything? In the end, it's a move that's likely to make the industry only go back and forth, with neither the Ministry of Culture nor Manjinwon not facing much pressure. Coincidentally, the ministry's head, Minister Yoo in-chon, who made the announcement, was in charge of the same ministry at the same time as Myeongtendo. It is no wonder that the policy is at this level.

(2024.01.23)