Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
Naver Webtoon, KTO collaborate to promote tourist spots
An illustration of characters from Naver Webtoon's “Can't Get Enough of You" at Jeonju Hanok Village in North Jeolla Province / Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization
By Lee Gyu-lee
Naver Webtoon’s Japanese-language platform, Line Manga, and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) have joined forces to promote Korea’s tourist destinations using popular Korean webtoon characters.
The organization announced the collaboration on Tuesday, which aims to highlight Korea’s diverse charms to Japanese audiences through illustrations, especially as Korean webtoons have continued to gain momentum in Japan.
“Korean webtoons have emerged as a new leading K-content, especially among Japan’s Generation Z,” said Jeong Keun-hee, director of KTO’s Japan Team.
“By leveraging webtoon intellectual properties (IP) that are familiar to its fans, we aim to organically share the appeal of Korea’s tourist destinations, and do our best to attract a record number of Japanese visitors to Korea through various K-culture-related initiatives.”
The illustrations feature characters from some of Naver Webtoon’s popular works, including “My Daughter Is a Zombie,” “Killer Peter,” “I Thought My Time Was Up!” and “Can’t Get Enough of You.”
They depict the characters traveling to 12 popular destinations across the country, including Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond in Gyeongju, Osaek Jujeongol Valley in Seoraksan National Park, Suncheon Bay National Garden and Jeonju’s Hanok Village, capturing Korea’s unique scenery and spirit.
The tourist destinations introduced in the illustrations were chosen from among the 30 best scenic spots in Korea, as selected by Japanese travel experts in March this year.
An illustration of characters from Naver Webtoon's "My Daughter Is a Zombie" at Suncheon Bay National Garden in South Jeolla Province / Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization
The illustrations will be available for two months from September to the end of October on Visit Korea, a platform that provides multilingual tourist information to visitors.
They will also be exhibited for one month in October at major venues for cultural exchange between Korea and Japan, including HiKR Station at Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport and Korea Plaza in Fukuoka. Visitors will receive limited-edition merchandise made especially for the exhibitions.
The art will also be showcased at the Korea-Japan Festival 2025 in Tokyo and at the Korean Pavilion at EXPO Japan 2025, both scheduled for Sept. 27-28.
Meanwhile, Naver Webtoon has accelerated its IP-driven business strategy in Japan, collaborating with Japanese studios to make adaptations of its webtoons.
In July, the company announced a partnership with Japan’s DandeLion Animation Studio to produce an animation of its popular webtoon “Eleceed,” which has garnered 1.4 billion views worldwide. Along with “Eleceed,” the company is currently developing more than 20 additional animation projects based on webtoon IP, including “Omniscient Reader,” “Dark Moon” and “Teenage Mercenary.”