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The comic book format webtoon, which emerged in South Korea and led the growth of an 11 billion dollar industry, has inspired many TV series and movies. The scenarios of TV series such as Business Proposal and Dr Brain, which have become a global phenomenon, were created based on webtoons. Two Korean entrepreneurs who grew up in Turkey, believing in the growth potential of the Webtoon format in the country, established Turkey's first webtoon platform to bring local comic book producers and readers together and to create a sustainable income model in the creative industry in the webtoon subculture.

*** This release is originally published in Turkish.

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ISTANBUL (TR) - In the last few years, South Korea has continued to dominate the global entertainment industry with its popular culture elements, especially music groups and television series. Mobile compatible digital comics, which have been rapidly rising recently, have been positioned as the most up-to-date concrete output of this trend. Vertical comics, called webtoons, especially attracted the attention of the young and digital native generation. Business Proposal, Itaewon Class, Sweet Home, Dr. Considering that the scripts of TV series such as Brain, Hellbound, Kingdom, are also based on webtoon series, the world's leading TV series platforms also evaluated the potential of this new content format. The interest of the young generation in Turkey in South Korean culture and webtoons did not go unnoticed by two Korean entrepreneurs who grew up in Turkey. Acting on these insights and emerging global trends, Hun Jang Cho and MinSoo Kim established Turkey's first webtoon platform under the name LOKMA.

Providing information about the platform, LOKMA STUDIO CEO Hun Jang Cho said, “We are excited and happy to present the first Turkish webtoon content to our readers by opening Turkey's first webtoon application on September 23. Turkish readers can access many local content free of charge by downloading LOKMA's mobile applications in the App Store and Play Store or by visiting our website at www.lokmastudio.com. The works are updated on a weekly basis and we continue to work to expand our library with new works.

Free access to dozens of original webtoon series

It was seen that the global comic book market size created an economy of 11 billion dollars. The webtoon series created for mobile devices stood out as the locomotive of the comic book market, which is expected to grow by 9% every year until 2025 due to its accessibility and easy consumption. In recent years, South Korea-based technology giants Kakao and Naver have taken a leading role in spreading this format to the world. While Naver announced that 6 more webtoon series will be adapted to the screen in the past days, the webtoon has inspired original productions of TV series and movie platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime with its directly adaptable format. Hun Jang Cho stated that Turkey has a great potential for the growth of the webtoon format in terms of both its young population and the use of the internet and mobile devices for entertainment purposes. All this proves that Turkish readers have adopted the webtoon format and are following it closely.”

It aims to create a revenue model for writers and illustrators

LOKMA STUDIO CEO Hun Jang Cho reminded that they offer local webtoon series that can be accessed for free on the platform and can be easily read on mobile devices, commented: “A notable community of Korean culture in Turkey is already keeping a close eye on this content format, accessing webtoons in a foreign language. We are working to make LOKMA a community-oriented application by bringing together comic book producers and readers. LOKMA aims to be a platform where local comics artists in Turkey can publish their works and earn income in this way. We want to create a platform where foreign webtoon series can be read in Turkish, original content can be produced and local productions can be served in foreign languages ​​in the not-too-distant future. We invite everyone who is a part of this culture in Turkey to experience LOKMA by downloading our free mobile applications.”