2025 World Webtoon Festival Kicks Off in Seoul

The 2025 World Webtoon Festival is underway in Seoul, running from October 19 to 22. The event celebrates Korea’s role as the birthplace of the global webtoon industry and wraps up on Wednesday with an awards ceremony at Lotte Cinema World Tower.

Now in its second year, the festival is built around strengthening Korea’s leadership in webtoons while giving creators and industry workers a moment of pride. A six part exhibition called The Chronicle of Webtoons anchors much of it, with screenings of webtoon based animation like Maru the Shiba and Dragon Girl, plus live drawing sessions, autograph signings, and a live dubbing show by voice actor Nam Dohyung.

Big names in the field, including NAVER WEBTOON, Netmarble, and Wacom, are taking part with interactive booths. There are also talk concerts featuring the creators of hits like Terror Man, Shark, and Itaewon Class discussing how their works were adapted into other media.

Fans can shop as well, since a webtoon pop up store is open from October 16 to 26 at Lotte World Mall, where a dozen companies are selling merchandise based on popular series.

The festival’s awards will hand out 11 prizes, among them a Grand Prize and a Jury Chairman’s Award. The finalists include The Uncanny Counter, Mirae’s Antique Shop, Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, Maru Is a Puppy, Get Schooled, and several others, with a new Readers’ Choice Award joining the lineup this year.

My take: A whole festival devoted to webtoons is a wonderful celebration of a form that has grown so much. I would love to wander that exhibition and catch a live drawing session in person.