South Korea.

World
Comics

만화

South Korea

1983

만화manhwa

In short

Korean comics are called manhwa, and since 2000 the word webtoon has named comics made for reading online.

Korea's first comics magazine appeared in 1948, rental reading rooms drove a boom in the 1950s and 1960s, and censorship weighed on the industry from the mid-1960s. A national agency, KOMACON, runs the Korea Manhwa Museum and the country's digital manhwa archive.

만화 · manhwa

From the shelf

South Korea in numbers

01 • 04

South Korea in numbers · 01 • 04

225

283

1983

2010s

Artists

Artists from South Korea in the archive.

Comics from South Korea in the archive.

Dooly the Little Dinosaur, the earliest comic from South Korea in the archive.

The decade when the most new comics from South Korea began.

Artists from South Korea in the archive.

Comics from South Korea in the archive.

Dooly the Little Dinosaur, the earliest comic from South Korea in the archive.

The decade when the most new comics from South Korea began.

만화

manhwa · Comics from South Korea

History

South Korea in 3 chapters

A short history you can leaf through. Click a page, use the arrow keys, or press Turn the page to read on.

World Comics Heritage

South Korea.

만화

3 chapters

Turn the page

Chapter 1

1600

to 1947

Early precursors

Cover

1600
to 1947
Chapter 01
Early precursors
In September 2025 KOMACON acquired a 636-piece collection that includes Uiyeoldo, a woodblock from the 1600s that it treats as early manhwa.
1948
to 1999
Chapter 02
Magazines, newspapers and rental rooms
Kim Yong-hwan founded Manhwa Haengjin, Korea's first comics magazine, in 1948, and Kim Seong-hwan's Gobau began in the Dong-A Ilbo in 1955, becoming Korea's longest-running strip. Rental reading rooms called manhwabang fed a boom in the 1950s and 1960s, including girls' romance comics (sunjeong), until censorship pressed on the industry from the mid-1960s.
2000
to today
Chapter 03
Webtoons
The word webtoon was first coined on 8 August 2000 by the online service Chollian. WEBTOON began its global expansion in 2014.