Webtoons in the 'vertical scroll' era are suitable for quick reading on mobile phones

According to The Korea Times , Korean webtoon platforms such as Naver Webtoon and Kakao Webtoon are ambitiously transforming from native digital comic platforms into pillars of global pop culture, creating cross-industry intellectual property (IP) and asserting the power of digital storytelling.

Format innovation

Korea JoongAng Daily reported that Naver Webtoon has just introduced a trial version of the " video episode" feature on the English version, to meet readers' needs for quick, entertaining comic enjoyment.

Instead of just traditional vertical scrolling, the episodes are enhanced with animation, sound effects, background music, and voice acting. Each episode lasts about 5 minutes, with 20 free episodes per series.

Naver Webtoon plans to test the feature first on English titles, then consider expanding it to other language platforms.

In April, Kakao Entertainment also launched an AI short-form video production tool, "Helix Shorts." The technology automatically creates short videos by analyzing frames and dialogue in webtoons.

The success of many popular TV dramas and movies adapted from webtoons around the world has demonstrated the cross-border cultural influence of Korean webtoons.

Culture critic Bae Kook Nam told The Korea Times that the rise of Korean webtoon platforms is gradually reshaping the comics industry in the digital age:

"The technological development efforts of Naver Webtoon and Kakao Webtoon usher in a significant leap in the digital storytelling capabilities of Korean comic platforms, focusing on maximizing the creative space and strengthening global competitiveness."

Global Leap with Disney

Another important milestone to mention is that a few days ago, Webtoon Entertainment, the US parent company of Naver Webtoon, announced a multi-year global content partnership with the Walt Disney Company.

According to the agreement, famous brands such as Spider Man, Avengers, Star Wars or Alien will be "reborn" into vertical scrolling webtoons exclusively for phones.

About 100 titles will be released one after another on the English Webtoon app, marking the platform's entry as a key player in the global content distribution industry.

Inspired by Disney's vast library, the works are adapted into a new webtoon series, covering a variety of genres from action, superheroes to fairy tales and princesses, to bring new perspectives on famous characters in a different format.

The titles slated for release are Amazing Spider Man, Avengers, Alien, Star Wars , and Disney's As Old As Time: A Twisted Tale .