Web novels in South Korea

Web novels in South Korea (Korean: 웹소설; Hanja: 웹小說; RR: Wepsoseol; "web novel; web fiction") are novels first released on the web and typically published in serialized form on online platforms. Within the e-publishing industry, web novels are a core form of content driving the e-book market. Just as webtoons (online comics) expanded in South Korea in the early 2000s, web novels have grown rapidly since the 2010s.[1] In particular, the web novel market has attracted growing attention due to the potential for web novels to be adapted into other media, such as television dramas.[2]

Etymology

The term wepsoseol (Korean: 웹소설), or wep soseol (Korean: 웹 소설), comes from the word wep (Korean: 웹), which is the Korean reading of the English word Web, and the word soseol (Korean: 소설; Hanja: 小說; MR: sosŏl),[3][4][5] which is the Korean reading of the Chinese word xiǎoshuō (Chinese: 小說), which in China, Korea, and Japan refers to both novels and prose fiction of any length.[6][7]

History

Web novels in South Korea were previously called "internet novels" (인터넷 소설; inteonet soseol) and "online novels" (온라인 소설; ollain soseol). The term "web novel" (wepsoseol) became widely used in South Korea after the launch of Naver Web Novel (네이버웹소설; Neibeowebsoseol) in 2013.[8] The term is used in both industry and academia.[1]

South Korean web novels began to spread in the late 1990s through now-defunct dial-up PC communication platforms including "Chollian", "Nownuri" and "HiTEL". These platforms hosted what are considered the first generation of Korean fantasy novels.

Representative works include:

  • Exorcism Chronicles (퇴마록; 退魔錄; Toemarok) (1993)
  • The Legend of Maian (마이언 전기; Maieon jeongi) (1995)
  • The Raising Falcon (비상하는 매; Bisanghaneun mae) (1996)
  • Dragon Raja (드래곤 라자; Deuraegon raja) (1997)
  • Karsearin (카르세아린; Kareusearin)[9][10] (1998)
  • Dragon's Temple (용의 신전; Yongui sinjeon) (1998)
  • Mookhyang (묵향; 墨香; Mukhyang) (1998)[9]
  • The Stone of Days (세월의 돌; Seworui dol) (1998)[11][12]

After the widespread adoption of the Internet in the late 1990s, earlier online platforms disappeared, and online novels became increasingly popular.[13] Since 2000, social and economic instability, including the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the turn of the century, contributed to the rise of amateur writers and the growing popularity of genre fiction over literary fiction.

Web novels also gained attention internationally, though terminology varies. In the United States, they are generally called web fiction while in China they are referred to as Internet literature (Chinese: 网络文学; pinyin: wǎngluò wénxué).[1] Prominent authors from this period include Gwiyeoni, whose works, such as My Sassy Girl by Kim Ho-sik (김호식) and He Was Cool [14], were adapted into comics and films.

After the economic crisis, many book rental stores emerged in South Korea. Genre novels serialized on the Internet were often published in print and distributed through these rental stores. However, the market for book rental shops was short-lived due to the emergence of competing distribution channels. Web novels also began to adopt paid distribution models. In April 2007, the e-book company Booktopia (now defunct) launched a genre novel website called Waki. In 2008, BookCube launched an e-book store. Both platforms used a per-part payment model. Joara, a popular serialization platform, also introduced paid content at this time, but it was initially unsuccessful. It introduced its "Premium" section in 2011, which was not profitable until 2014.[13]

Meanwhile, the e-book market continued to expand. In January 2013, Naver launched its Naver Web Novel platform, which had a significant influence on the market. Works previously referred to as “internet novels” or “online novels” came to be known as “web novels.” In February of the same year, Kakao Page launched and later became a leading platform in the genre web novel market.[13]

Since October 2022, services such as YONDER have provided official English translations of Korean web novels.[15] Prior to this, many piracy sites distributed unauthorized translations to meet demand from non-Korean speakers. However, South Korea’s Ministry of Culture has taken a hard stance against illegal distributors to uphold copyright protections.[16]

Features

Web based system

Web novels are produced, distributed, and consumed online. This has brought significant changes to the traditional publishing industry, as web-based platforms that previously had little influence have become increasingly prominent in the web novel market. In addition, production, distribution, and consumption often occur almost simultaneously.[2] Digital payment systems have also made access easier, allowing readers to purchase episodes, typically priced at around ₩100 each.[17]

Serialization

Serialization is a key feature of web novels, as it enables gradual commercialization and encourages ongoing reader engagement. It is important for authors to know how to structure episode to end on exciting moments and cliffhangers. Continuity between episodes is also an important factor in encouraging readers to continue to the next installment.[2]

Interaction

Interaction with readers through comments is an important component of web novels. Authors can review comments and views counts to determine reader preferences. However, this dynamic can place pressure on writers and may affect their creative process. This represents a shift in the traditional fixed relationship between authors and readers and creates new literary possibilities .[2]

Extensibility

Web novels have strong potential for adaption into other forms of media. Their fast-paced narratives and episodic structure make them immersive and relatively easy to adapt into visual formats such as television dramas. In China, web novels are increasingly recognized as valuable intellectual property that can be developed into various media such as webtoons, movies, and video games. Many works adapted from original web novels have achieved significant popularity.[2]

Platforms

Joara

"Serialist" (시리얼리스트; Silieolliseuteu) was launched in November 2000, and "Ujoa" (유조아; Yujoa), was launched in March 2001.[18] The web novel Invisible Dragon (투명드래곤; Tumyeongdeuraegon) (2002) attracted significant attention.[19] In June 2003, "Joara" (조아라) was officially established.[18]

Joara is South Korea's largest web novel platform, with approximately 140,000 writers. It hosts an average of 2,400 serialized works per day and a total of about 420,000 works. The company operated at a loss for its first eight years but began generating profits in 2009. By 2015, it reported sales of ₩12.5 billion. As of 2016, Joara had approximately 1.1 million members and averaged 8.6 million daily users.[20]

Because Joara’s user base has a relatively balanced gender distribution, both fantasy and romance genres are popular. The top 10 works in the “Noblesse” and “Premium” categories are dominated by these genres, while parody and BL genres are popular in the free series category.[1]

Munpia

"Go! Murim" was launched in 2002 by writers of martial arts novels such as Geumgang, who is currently CEO Kim Hwan-cheol. The site initially focused on the martial arts genre and attracted an older audience. It later expanded to include fantasy and changed its name to "Gomofan." In 2006, the site was renamed again as Munpia (문피아) and in 2013 started a paid service.

As of 2016, Munpia had approximately 450,000 members, 500,000 daily visitors, and 31,000 active writers. The platform hosts about 60,000 titles, 700,000 serialized work, 20,000 exclusive works, and more than 2,700 new works every month.[20]

In May 2021, Naver partnered with CJ ENM, a subsidiary of CJ Group, to acquire Munpia Inc., which had become South Korea's third largest web-novel platform.[21]

Naver Web Novel (네이버웹소설; Neibeowebsoseol) first started its service on January 15, 2013. It is a web novel platform under Naver, the nation's top search engine. According to a January 2016 Naver press release, more than 5 million readers have accessed Naver's web novels more than once a month, which is loved by many readers. Among the official serial writers of Naver's web novels, 26 made more than 100 million won a year, while the highest-earning authors earned 470 million won in 2018 alone. The works of Naver Web Novel have some differences in format with other platforms. It is to attach a small character illustration to the front of the conversation. It is unique that the characters of the work can be identified only by illustrations without knowing the context of who said the words.[1] Naver reorganized its web novel platform Naver SERIES (Korean: 네이버 시리즈; RR: Neibeo Silijeu) in 2018 and is focusing on marketing SERIES.[22] It has also reorganized its paid content activation model. "Free for You" allows only users to see web novels free of charge if they wait a certain amount of time.[23]

KakaoPage

KakaoPage first started its service on April 9, 2013, but it did not mainly serve web novels and webtoons from the beginning. At first, it was designed as an open market where developers of various contents can freely upload mobile content. However, it was not widely used due to lack of publicity for its users.[20]

From April 21, 2014, the webtoon and web novel service began free of charge. Based on popular works such as Legendary Moonlight Sculptor (2007), the company has secured a large number of users through active marketing to potential users such as providing items to Kakao Talk users, and is currently one of the pillars of the web publishing market.[20]

KakaoPage's webtoons and web novels include serial novels managed by the headquarters and "Waiting for free" and books provided by various publishers.[20] "Waiting for free" is a service model that allows users to watch the next episode for free after a certain period of time from the moment they watch the first episode.[24] They are not allowed to post content by individual writers, such as Naver N Store (It's now merged with SERIES.), and they can only upload content through partner companies.[20]

Ridi

Since 2017, Ridi Corporation has been expanding its content spectrum, serving web novels in different products.[25]

Genres

The genres of web novels are complex and fast, but the representative genres can be divided into romance, fantasy, martial arts, and modernity.[26] In web novels, romance genres are produced and consumed the most. In the case of Naver, a total of 25,542 web novels were posted on the N store as of August 2015, of which romance topped the list with 13,164 (64.08 percent). SF and Fantasy came in second with 3,540 pieces (17.23%), martial arts ranked third with 2,420 pieces (11.78%), mystery fifth with 865 pieces (4.36%), and Light Novel (ライトノベル) with 238 pieces (1.16%). Recently, Romance Fantasy has been in the spotlight. Romance Fantasy is a new genre novel that has been available on Naver since April 2017, meaning romance-based fantasy. While fantasy mainly uses hero adventure stories as its main story line, Romance Fantasy mainly uses romance as its main story line.[27] Game web novels are also gaining popularity. Game web novels typically use game elements such as quests, items, and NPCs as narrative materials. Game web novels are intermingling with fantasy novels, expanding their reach with young readers who are familiar with the game.[2]

Market

Platform, CP (Contents Provider) and writer are the main players in the web novel industry. The platform receives and distributes web novels from authors and CP to provide web novels to readers. Contracts and excavations with writers are usually made through direct submissions to the platform or holding contests on the platform itself. CP receives web novels from writers and processes them in various forms. CP generates revenue by publishing a series of fictitious web novels on the platform. It also generates profits by publishing serial or completed works in paper books or by producing and selling goods.[2]

Sixty-four percent of web novels are romance, and 95 percent of romance readers are women. Also, people in their 30s and 40s account for 64 percent of web novel readers (2015).[27]

Sales

The market for web novels, which was worth 10 billion won in 2013, is estimated to have grown to 400 billion won in 2018.[28] The market has grown 40 times in five years. In 2019, the market for web novels exceeded 500 billion won.[29]

Media franchise

Web novels have the greatest potential as source stories that can be extended to various forms of content. Web novels have important value in that they can test the marketability of animations, movies, and dramas that are relatively risky because web novels cost less in the beginning. Thus, web novels can gain greater market value through thinking about how to use them rather than their value as a web novel itself.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 고, 민정 (2019). "한국 웹소설의 플랫폼 성장과 가능성(Platform Growth and Possibility of Korean Web Novels)". Riss (in Korean). Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 장, 민지 (2018). IP 비지니스 기반의 웹 소설 활성화 방안(IP Business-Based Web Novel Activation Plan). Korea: 한국콘텐츠진흥원. ISBN 978-89-359-1407-4.
  3. ^ Kim, Hwi (October 9, 2018). "[문화산책] 웹 소설의 성장과 미래" [[Cultural Walk] The Growth and Future of Web Novels]. The Yeongnam Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  4. ^ "웹 소설" [web novel]. Urimalsaem. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  5. ^ "소설3(小說)" [novel]. Standard Korean Language Dictionary. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  6. ^ Zeitlin, Judith T. "Xiaoshuo (From the book The Novel, Volume 1)". De Gruyter. doi:10.1515/9780691243757-012. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  7. ^ "English translation of '소설' - Collins Korean-English Dictionary". collinsdictionary. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  8. ^ "네이버, 웹툰처럼 소설도 '무료로' 제공한다" [Naver, like webtoons, also provides novels 'for free']. Electronic Times (in Korean). January 10, 2013. Retrieved March 8, 2025 – via Naver.
  9. ^ a b "언더그라운드 문화, 가상공간서 "꽃망울"" [Underground culture, "bloom" in virtual space]. Et News (in Korean). November 14, 1998. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  10. ^ 구, 본혁 (February 2015). "한국장르판타지의 개념과 장르관습((A) study on the concept and genre convention of Korean genre fantasy)". 고려대학교 대학원: 124 – via Naver.
  11. ^ "Author Jeon Min-hee: Publishing Abroad Requires Faithful Translation and Cultural Understanding". K-Book Trends. KPipa. June 10, 2019. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  12. ^ "［세계기행］ 포립과 테일즈위버, 그리고 룬의 아이들" [［World Travel］ 4LEAF, TalesWeaver, and the Children of the Rune]. Game Meca (in Korean). May 12, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2024 – via Naver.
  13. ^ a b c 김, 휘빈 (2017). 웹소설 작가 서바이벌 가이드(Web Novel Writer Survival Guide). Korea: 이마. pp. 9–22. ISBN 9791186940266.
  14. ^ 류, 수연 (November 2019). "웹 2.0 시대와 웹소설—웹 로맨스 서사를 중심으로(Web 2.0 and Web novels—Focusing on Web-based Romance Novels)". 대중서사연구. 25 (4): 9–43. doi:10.18856/JPN.2019.25.4.001.
  15. ^ "Webtoon launches Yonder, a new serialized fiction app". Fast Company. October 13, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  16. ^ "Culture Ministry arrests operator of illegal web novel distribution site". koreajoongangdaily.joins.com. December 19, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
  17. ^ "한계 없는 상상력과 기발한 캐릭터들...대세가 된 '웹소설'" [Unlimited imagination and ingenious characters...The mainstream "Web Novel"]. Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). January 13, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  18. ^ a b "이수희 조아라 대표" [Lee Soo-hee, CEO of Jo A-ra]. Consumer Times (in Korean). May 26, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  19. ^ "웹소설 쓰면서 5억을 벌 수 있다고?" [You can earn 500 million by writing a web novel?]. Daehaknaeil (in Korean). April 5, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  20. ^ a b c d e f 이, 승환 (2017). "웹출판의 발전과 과제(The Development and Tasks of Web Publication)". Riss (in Korean). doi:10.21732/skps.2017.78.97. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  21. ^ Kim, Chae-yeon; Koo, Min-Ki (May 28, 2021). "Naver, CJ ENM join forces to acquire Korea's No.3 web novel platform". Korea Economic Daily. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  22. ^ "'북스'에서 '시리즈'로... 웹소설 승부수 던진 네이버(From Books to Series...Naver made the bid for victory)" (in Korean). MoneyS. October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  23. ^ "닮아가는 네이버와 카카오 콘텐츠 전략(The content strategy of Naver and Kakao is becoming similar)" (in Korean). The Financial News. September 11, 2018. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  24. ^ "대세로 떠오른 웹소설 시장...네이버, 카카오에 도전장(The web novel market that has emerged as a trend...Naver sends 'challenge' to Kakao)" (in Korean). Sisa Journal. June 30, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  25. ^ "리디, 웹소설 전용 앱 '리디스토리' 출시" [Ridi, web novel app 'Ridi Story' released]. Sedaily (in Korean). January 17, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  26. ^ Rho, Hee-jun (September 30, 2018). "A study on the genre aspects of Korean web novels". The Comparative Study of World Literature. 64: 409–428. doi:10.33078/COWOL64.17. S2CID 165994074.
  27. ^ a b Kim, Kyŏng-ae (Professor of Korean language education); 김 경애 (Professor of Korean language education) (2017). Nomaensŭ wepsosŏl (Ch'op'an ed.). Sŏul-si: Communication Books. ISBN 979-11-288-0037-5. OCLC 1037948261.
  28. ^ "[단독]KT, 제2의 '카카페' 노린다···웹소설 플랫폼 '블라이스' 분사 추진 - 머니투데이(KT is aiming for a second 'Kakao Page'... ...promoting the spread of the web novel platform 'Blice')" (in Korean). Money Today. October 4, 2019. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  29. ^ "KT, 웹소설·웹툰 공략... "'스토리위즈' 1조 유니콘 기업 목표"(KT is targeting web novels and webtoons... "Storywiz" aims to become a unicorn company worth 1 trillion won.")". 뉴데일리. October 13, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.