Next year’s comics and webtoon budget proposal: 32.7 billion won ... Expanded support for regional creative spaces and overseas expansion

[The Financial News] Next year, plans are in place to establish creative spaces for local comics and webtoon artists and expand support for taking their works overseas. Support for translation and global webtoon production will increase, and publication of diverse comics will also be supported.
According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the government’s budget proposal for the comics and webtoon sector next year totals 32.7 billion won. The total is down 4.6% from this year, but industry support spending, excluding facility construction projects, is up about 6%.
A budget of 3.1 billion won has been allocated to a new project, “Establishment of Comics and Webtoon Scenario Creation Labs.” Major facilities in regions not served by existing Webtoon Campuses will be renovated to create four creative spaces. The regions will be selected through an open call next year.
Funding will be provided to upgrade aging equipment at 10 existing Webtoon Campuses. The aim is to help local artists focus on their work close to home.
The translation support budget will rise from 2.431 billion won this year to 2.86 billion won next year. Support for producing webtoon intellectual property (IP) for global markets will increase from 5.005 billion won to 5.219 billion won.
In the Korea Creative Content Agency’s “2025 Survey on the Webtoon Industry,” webtoon platforms and content providers alike cited localization as necessary support for overseas expansion. Content providers also showed strong demand for the establishment of overseas distribution networks.
Support for producing diverse comics will increase from 3.28 billion won to 3.56 billion won, and a new category of publishing support will be introduced. The budget allocates 800 million won for support at the early stage of creation and 3.2 billion won for training professionals in the webtoon industry, including local artists and producers.
This afternoon, MCST will hold the fourth meeting of the Webtoon Subcommittee of the Culture and Arts Policy Advisory Committee at the Seoul branch of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Jongno-gu, Seoul, chaired by Minister Choi Hwi-young. The meeting will discuss the budget proposal and key issues.
Minister Choi said, “We plan to maintain close communication with the industry and implement related programs effectively so that the support included in the 2027 government budget proposal leads to the production and distribution of outstanding works and their expansion into overseas markets.”
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