Culture ministry plans 32.7 billion won for comics and webtoons in 2027

South Korea's culture ministry said Wednesday it has allocated 32.7 billion won ($24.4 million) for comics and webtoons in the 2027 government budget, a 4.6 percent decline from this year that still leaves practical industry support about 6 percent higher once facility construction is excluded.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choe Hwi-young presented the figure at the National Museum of Modern Art in Seoul, where he chaired the fourth meeting of the webtoon division of the Culture and Arts Policy Advisory Committee.

A new program to build comics and webtoon scenario creation studios accounts for 3.1 billion won ($2.31 million), with four sites to be established in areas that missed out on the webtoon campus program until 2023. Locations will be chosen through a public contest next year. A further 10 existing webtoon campuses will receive money to replace aging equipment.

"Comics and webtoons are a core field proving the competitiveness of our content in the global market, and a field where creators' imaginations expand endlessly beyond genres," Choe said. He added that the ministry will communicate closely with the industry so that the support in the 2027 budget leads to production, distribution and overseas expansion.

Translation assistance will grow to 2.86 billion won ($2.13 million) from 2.43 billion won, while funding for global webtoon intellectual property production will rise to 5.22 billion won ($3.89 million) from 5 billion won. Support for diversity comics will increase to 3.56 billion won ($2.66 million) from 3.28 billion won, with a new publishing support category added. Early-stage creation support is set at 800 million won ($596,792) and professional workforce training for the webtoon industry at 3.2 billion won ($2.39 million).

Archive and research programs will be held at this year's level, including 465 million won ($346,885) for the webtoon archive, 518 million won ($386,423) for collecting comics materials and building information, 200 million won ($149,198) for comics criticism and 354 million won ($264,081) for a help desk for comics workers.

The meeting was attended by seven members of the webtoon division, including Korea Cartoonists Association President Kwon Hyuk-joo, Regional Comics and Webtoon Organizations Federation President Kim Byung-soo, Webtoon Association President Kim Shin, Jaedam Media strategy director Park Seok-hwan, cartoonists Shin Il-sook and Won Soo-yeon, and D&C Media CEO Choi Won-young.