Kakao Entertainment is launching a creative workspace support program to help webtoon artists facing financial difficulties.
Kakao Entertainment said Wednesday that the Kakao Creative Foundation, under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to that effect on Tuesday.
Since 2024, the two organizations have maintained an agreement to ease the rental burden for artists residing in the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency cluster (the Webtoon Convergence Center and Business Center), creating an environment where they can focus entirely on their creative work. This year's support recipients, selected through an open call and review, total 72 teams (250 people), a 158% increase from the previous year.
Artists who received support produced visible results across multiple areas, including new serializations, overseas expansion, and intellectual property (IP) expansion. A representative success case, the Webtoon Convergence Center resident studio "Green Giraffe," started as a small team of three to four people but used the creative workspace support as a springboard to release numerous hit works. It later expanded its stage to serialization in 10 countries including the United States, Japan, and France, and last year successfully transitioned into a webtoon studio corporation, establishing a stable foundation for self-reliance.
The Kakao Creative Foundation plans to continue focusing on building a foundation that allows creators to sustain their work in a stable manner. The foundation said it will steadily expand its support system so that the continued growth of creators can lead to the discovery of new IP and the strengthening of competitiveness across the webtoon industry as a whole.
"The workspace support program is a process of creating a support pillar so that artists can take on their next work without burning out," a Kakao Creative Foundation official said. "We will continue to work closely with the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency to expand support that can be felt in the field, and help creators grow at the center of the industry."
