Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Naver Webtoon launches German service targeting European market
By Park Ji-won
Naver Webtoon / Courtesy of Naver
By Park Ji-won
Naver Webtoon, an online comic affiliate of the leading online search engine and portal, started offering German-language versions of its comics on March 31, local time, as part of its efforts to expand its footprint in Europe.
The content provider said it launched German versions of up to 20 comics that have been popular in other Western countries. Naver Webtoon said its comics are now available in nearly 100 countries in 10 languages including English, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, French and Indonesian. Naver Webtoon will offer in German its original Korean series, such as “The Remarried Empress” and “Omniscient Reader,” as well as comics made in the United States such as “Lore Olympus” and “Unordinary.”
The move comes amid the expansion of the online comic market in Germany, the largest market in Europe. Naver Webtoon has been gradually expanding its foreign language services over the past few years, and targeting the European market since 2019 when it introduced Spanish and French services. The company has been strategically moving to take the lead in content production using comics following the successes of previous works like “Sweet Home” that was adapted to a TV show on Netflix.