Understanding Korean Webtoon Culture is one of the first monographs that focuses on webtoons, the new digital wave of Korean media culture. This book introduces the history, culture, and political economy of webtoons along with technological transformations of the media environment. Dal Yong Jin organizes the book with his attention on the convergence of digital culture—platform economy, mobile culture, and the IP engine—as the condition for both the advent and cultural content of webtoons. As unique inventions of Korea's major platforms—Naver, Daum, and Kakao—in the early twenty-first century, webtoons and their global popularity began in South Korea, one of the most wired nations in the world. Through the use of two approaches—political economy and cultural studies—Jin examines the phenomenon of this media genre that originated from South Korea and penetrated global markets.
As to political economy, Jin points out the reverse flow of webtoons from a non-Western nation to Western...
