[Today’s Webtoon] The Boy Sent by the Yakuza Joins the Effort to Build a Homeland... ‘Osaka Fantasy Line’

[Financial News] Sent by the yakuza to infiltrate a Korean village, the boy was supposed to steal the residents’ ID cards and get paid. But the closer he grows to them, the more his resolve falters. The villagers’ dream is to ‘build a homeland in Osaka.’ Through the boy, who gets caught up in an unexpected mission, WEBTOON’s ‘Osaka Fantasy Line’ tells the story of Zainichi Koreans trying to protect their home and livelihood in a foreign land.
This debut work by Hyeo Na-hyeon is set in Osaka in the 1960s. Kim Yong, a Zainichi Korean boy, gets caught up in a fight involving a yakuza member’s niece or nephew and is then tasked with stealing ID cards. At first, he thinks only of his own safety and reward, but as he spends time with the residents, he gradually joins their plan. The story centers on how the future of a village he once considered someone else’s concern becomes his own.
The work weaves the discrimination and threats faced by Zainichi Koreans into the characters’ daily lives and relationships. The friendship that Kim Yong and the residents build as they come to rely on one another, and the choices they make to save one another when their survival is at stake, bring warmth to the historical subject matter. Their fervent goal of ‘building a homeland in Osaka’ prompts reflection on the meaning of the life and dignity they are trying to protect.
The period detail and direction also help draw readers in. The work recreates the atmosphere of the time with detailed depictions of Osaka’s streets and ordinary people’s lives, while the tension between the yakuza and the village drives the story forward. Subtle scenes that explore the characters’ inner lives intertwine with the fast-paced plot, adding appeal to this weighty period drama.
‘Osaka Fantasy Line’ was selected as a winner of the ‘2026 Today’s Our Comics’ award. Selection committee chair Hong Nan-ji praised it, saying, “It portrays with a high level of polish the struggles of Zainichi Koreans trying to properly establish a homeland in Osaka,” and added, “Despite the historical distance, it is a work with a clear contemporary resonance in that it gives us the conviction that this is ‘a comic we should read now.’” The work is serialized on WEBTOON every Saturday.
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