NEWSROOM

Following the K-Pop wind blowing from South Korea, the webcomics trend "webtoon" is starting. The application, which translates webtoon content into Turkish under license, not only creates a webtoon culture in Turkey but also creates a new source of income for content producers.

Following the South Korean music genre K-Pop, which has become increasingly popular worldwide and in our country, especially among Generation Z, a new trend has already begun to attract consumers' attention. Webtoons and web comics originating from South Korea are becoming more widespread on digital platforms daily. Data released by Spherical Insights & Consulting predicts that the webtoon market, which is expected to close in 2023 with 4.7 billion dollars, will reach 60.1 billion dollars by 2030. LOKMA Webtoon, which started to publish licensed Korean webtoon content in Turkish, which can be read in short periods such as 3-5 minutes, brings together Turkish comic book enthusiasts with global content and ensures that webtoons become a culture in our country.

“Local artists will be able to earn an income”

Min Soo Kim, Founding Partner of LOKMA Webtoon, stated, “We are happy to present foreign content to our readers in Turkish with our application. In addition to the current content, we have many other works in the preparation stages for publication. With our free application, local artists can earn income while users read the content they want.”

“We will turn webtoons into a culture, not just a commercial product”

Stating that they aim for Webtoon to gain a place as a commercial sector in Turkey, Min Soo Kim said, “In line with our vision, we not only localise foreign content but also ensure that the content produced by local artists is presented to the readers and thus they generate income. For this, we are implementing a new revenue model called Freemium. Our content is divided into 3 categories: "Free", "Wait for Free (BB)”, and "Preview". Chapters in BB format can be read free of charge 24 hours after being clicked and activated. While "Preview" sections can be accessed early for a fee, they become BB sections as new episodes are released. It may be a familiar revenue model for mobile game players because it is a model inspired by the gaming industry and adapted to webtoon. "We believe that this model, which global webtoon giants also use, has proven to be an effective and useful model for both the reader, the artist and the platform.”

It will create a local webtoon ecosystem

Min Soo Kim, Co-Founder of LOKMA Webtoon, emphasised that webtoon content currently exists as a subculture in Turkey and concluded his words as follows, “We want to create a creative ecosystem with webtoons in Turkey. We believe that our application is a step in the right direction. In the next phase, we will enrich our content range even further. We aim to bring the world of comics to life on a scale where consumption and production increase. We will continue to work to be pioneers in the new era where reading comics in any format in Turkey becomes as normal as watching TV shows or movies.”