When Bae Jin-soo quit his well-paying job at one of South Korea's biggest conglomerates to write stories, his parents were so upset they kicked him out of the house. But around seventeen years later, Bae is one of the biggest names in South Korea's thriving billion-dollar webtoon industry, having taught himself to draw and penned hits that have been turned into YouTube reality shows, plus a major Netflix series. The business of webtoons—online-only, mobile-friendly comics—has seen explosive growth around the world since the format emerged 20 years ago in South Korea.
Webtoon Entertainment, the most popular digital comics hosting platform, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the tech-rich US Nasdaq stock exchange. Owned by the South Korean tech giant Naver, Webtoon could reach a valuation of more than $2.6 billion after the IPO, according to an SEC filing on Monday.
But when Bae started out, his parents—like many people at the time—did not consider being a "comic artist" a viable way to make a living, he told AFP. Even his friends were worried about his career choice as he "couldn't draw", he said. But he taught himself how—by taking photographs of himself and his surroundings and then copying them with a pen—while working at a convenience store and delivering pizzas.
Readers' comments that were critical of his early, rudimentary drawings but praised the storyline also spurred him to work harder. Eventually, he posted his breakout 2012 debut horror hi.
