Naver and Kakao’s favorite characters to collaborate

A poster for Maru and Choonsik's collaboration / Courtesy of Naver Webtoon

Naver's popular webtoon character Maru from “Maru is a Puppy” and Kakao Friends’ character Choonsik will meet in a merchandise collaboration in a rare example of partnership between Korea's top internet service companies.

According to Naver Webtoon on Friday, it will roll out a short webtoon on Instagram on Monday showing Maru and Choonsik's new friendship.

Collaborative merchandise featuring both characters will be unveiled on Wednesday and Thursday and will be available for sale on April 18. The merchandise will be sold on Naver Webtoon's online merchandise store, Webtoon Friends, and on Kakao Friends’ online and offline stores, as well as online platforms like Kakao Talk, 29cm and Musinsa.

The webtoon “Maru is a Puppy” follows the daily life of a poodle named Maru who suddenly turns into a human child. It has gained enormous popularity, resulting in a profusion of memes and accumulating a total of over 270 million views since it was first released in 2022.

Despite the series ending last November, the company helped maintain its popularity through collaborations and pop-up events. Since 2023, there have been pop-up stores in locations including The Hyundai in Yeouido, Seoul, and Shinsegae Centum City in Busan.

It also successfully collaborated with brands like GS Retail, Mega MGC Coffee, Samsung and KB Kookmin Card.

“Naver Webtoon plans to continuously discover super popular characters like Maru to strengthen its IP business,” the company said in a press release.

From April to June, it plans to introduce collaborative products with various cosmetic brands, starting with the vegan brand athe.