Webtoon give inspiration to films

"Secretly Greatly," starring Kim Soo-hyun

Based on the popular eponymous web cartoon, above, created by Hun in 2010. / Courtesy of Showbox/Mediaplex

By Chung Ah-young

Digital comics or so-called "webtoons" have been making a jump to the big screen or stage since a digital comic strip, "Apartment" by Kang Full, the most popular web cartoonist, was adapted into a film version in 2006.

Bringing the web cartoons to the big screen offers more opportunities to filmmakers by taking advantage of the original ideas along with their solid fan base and familiar storylines.
The Korean movie industry recently suffering from dwindling popularity overshadowed by Hollywood blockbusters is now seeing the digital comics as crucial sources of ideas in their cinematic productions.

A slew of Korean movies based on web comics are to be released or to be made, thus boosting the sagging local film industry. The industry expects a series of movies inspired by popular web cartoons would attract large audiences.

"Secretly Greatly" is one of this year's most anticipated films starring heartthrob Kim Soo-hyun. The film is based on the popular eponymous web cartoon created by Hun in 2010 with 250 million of accumulative page views. It is garnering the attention as Kim who was selected to play the lead role in a virtual casting by the cartoon fans has been actually cast in the movie. Kim plays Won Ryu-hwan who disguises as a fool, one of three North Korean spies, including Rhee Hae-rang (Park Ki-woong), and Rhee Hae-jin (Lee Hyun-woo) from the elite special corps 5446. While waiting for missions from the North, they gradually adapt themselves into life in the South.

Web comic strip "Misaeng" by Yoon Tae-ho has been made into a short mobile flick starring Yim Si-wan, a member of K-pop group ZE:A.
/ Courtesy of Daum Communications

The film saw the highest advanced tickets sales in Korean movie history, representing more than 80 percent in the box office share, according to the Korea Film Council. Hollywood blockbuster "Iron Man 3" surpassed 80 percent in the ticket reservations share while "Berlin File," a Korean action flick, recorded 46 percent.

"Misaeng" by Yoon Tae-ho portrays interpersonal relations between employees of Korean corporations, focusing on everyday life's struggles and survival in the corporate culture. It draws an analogy between life in modern society and the game of baduk.

With more than 400 million accumulative page views since its release in January 2012, the sensational web cartoon has created a solid fandom which consists of mostly corporate workers. Responding to the enormous popularity, it has been made into a short mobile flick which is released every Friday on Daum. Yim Si-wan, a member of K-pop group ZE:A, takes the leading role of Jang Geu-rae, the protagonist in an omnibus format.

"The Five" starring actress Kim Sun-ah is based on the web cartoon of the same title by Jeong Yeon-sik who has also directed the film version. The movie portrays a woman who loses her family to a psychopath and takes revenge along with four others including a North Korean defector, gangster and others who are alienated from society. The film will be released late this year.

Also, "The Web Toon," a horror film, deals with the serial crimes described in the web cartoons which actually happen in real life. Starring actress Lee Si-young and actor Um Ki-joon, the movie will be released on June 27.

The recent popularity of the films based on the digital comics is derived from the success of previous works such as "Apartment," "Hello Schoolgirl," "Pained," "Neighbor" and "26 Years" based on the works created by Kang.

Also, Yoon's "Moss" was adapted into a film in 2010 which drew more than 3.4 million moviegoers, becoming the top grossing film among the web comics-based works.

Web comics: rising content for hallyu

Currently some 500 web cartoonists have been working since the genre emerged as an alternative cartoon in 2000s. The web cartoons are usually released by major portal sites such as Naver and Daum. Over the last 10-plus years, currently some 200 works are provided online.

Relatively flexible on its subject and content, the genre has grown into an alternative cultural source dealing with what isn't usually addressed in the mainstream entertainment.
Also, it has created a few catchwords which are now frequently used by the Internet users such as "oemchina" (a mom's son which means a good-looking and highly educated child who has it all) or "chadonyeo" which refers to as a chic, urban woman.

In 2011, "Bongcheon-dong Ghost" by Horang was translated into English in a U.S. comics site, creating a sensation among the horror comic fans, while "Noblesse" by Son Jae-ho and Lee Gwang-su created a strong foreign fan base.

However, web cartoons can't generate profit on their own as they heavily rely on portal sites. The artists are paid by the portal sites and the works are provided online free of charge. The portal sites have the profit making system according to the number of the page views. Thus, their working conditions are not stable as only a handful of star cartoonists such as Kang and Yoon can make money by selling them to turned into films or publications.