Reanimated legendary man-eating freak, “creepy as hell”

By Ko Dong-hwan

Korea’s mythical man-eating monster breathed down the neck of millions of webtoon-viewers.

It was a special summer edition of a short story collection titled “Hometown Legends 2013” launched online on July 29, where the monster “Jangsanbeom” (‘Tiger from Mount Jang”) was brought to netizens’ horrified discovery by its creator nicknamed “POGO.”

Collective works comprising the edition in series were drawn by webtoon cartoonists currently active in the Webtoon section of Naver, Korea’s most popular search engine site.

Origin of the idea of Jangsanbeom is part of Korean folklore. Legend has it that the monster, unidentified so far, is completely covered with white fur and, with its long hind legs and short forelegs, can crawl fast. It makes a blackboard-scratching noise or human scream, and also mimics sounds made by other animals.

POGO’s depiction of Jangsanbeom encompasses all the features known from the legend with one more gruesome perk that it preys on humans.

The furry white animal, often appearing in Korean traditional masked dance, is believed to borrow its imagery motif from Jangsanbeom.

Although the monster’s whereabouts remain as a mystery, few online postings claiming they witnessed the monster on Mount Jang in Haeundae-gu, Busan and other local spots once drew huge public attentions in June 2012.