"Gian84's Serialization Halt" VS "Calls for Expulsion Are Fascism"... Naver Remains Silent

Gian84

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] As the controversy surrounding webtoon artist Gian84 (real name Kim Heemin) continues for over two weeks, Naver is monitoring the situation and continuing internal discussions.

According to industry sources on the 29th, the webtoon "Return to Campus" serialized by Gian84 on Naver Webtoon has sparked a misogyny controversy over some content, with voices calling for the serialization to be halted clashing with claims that "demands to stop serialization are excessive criticism."

The incident arose in episode 304, "Flatfish Human" part 2, of "Return to Campus." In the webtoon, a female job seeker, Bong Ji-eun, is shown breaking a clam on her stomach with the line, "It's not about working hard; it's not about academic background or specs." Afterwards, her workplace superior hires her and says, "Well, that's how it turned out. I'm 40 years old and still haven't gotten married." The male protagonist then asks, "Did you sleep with him?" Users criticized this scene, interpreting it as implying that Bong Ji-eun secured her job through a sexual relationship with her superior, sparking controversy.

Photo by Naver Webtoon

"Gian84's Serialization Must Be Stopped"

Although Gian84 revised the webtoon and apologized, criticism continues. A Blue House (Cheong Wa Dae) petition demanding the suspension of "Return to Campus" serialization has garnered over 120,000 signatures as of this day. The Blue House petition response requirement is 200,000 signatures within 30 days.

Earlier, on the 19th, the Basic Income Party's Gender Politics Special Committee, the Cartoon Industry Sexual Violence Countermeasure Committee, and UnivFemi held a press conference in front of Krafton Tower in Bundang, where Naver Webtoon's headquarters are located, raising their voices, saying, "Despite being the number one portal in usage, Naver Webtoon is not fulfilling its social responsibilities."

They submitted a petition signed by 1,167 Naver users with their IDs to Naver Webtoon headquarters.

These groups urged, "Naver Webtoon should suspend the serialization of 'Return to Campus' and impose penalties if official serialized works contain misogyny or insults to minorities," and "Naver and Naver Webtoon should establish clear disciplinary provisions in their usage rules."

Members of the Basic Income Party's Special Committee on Gender Politics and the Cartoon Industry Sexual Violence Countermeasures Committee held a press conference on the 19th demanding the suspension of the serialization of the webtoon "Bokhakwang" by Kian84. Photo by Yonhap News

"Demanding Webtoon Artist Expulsion and Serialization Suspension Is Fascism"

Some expressed concerns that demands to stop serialization could infringe on freedom of expression. The Webtoon Association issued an official statement on the 24th, saying, "Criticism of artists and works is entirely possible, but demands for artist expulsion and serialization suspension are fascism (totalitarianism)."

The association stated, "We seriously and deeply acknowledge and empathize with any reader's issues and criticisms based on allegations of disparagement and mockery of social minorities," but also said, "We oppose excessive force beyond criticism and opinions."

They added, "We cannot dismiss as worthless the imperative to raise our society's gender equality index and agree on the necessity to practice it, but we strongly worry about restricting artists' free ideas and imaginations and using this as grounds for oppression under that pretext."

They continued, "In all areas of popular art, including webtoons, any unreasonable attempts and forces to infringe upon and damage freedom of creation and expression must be expelled. We ask the Webtoon Association, related organizations, other popular art groups, artists, and workers to join together in this cause."

After the statement was released, the association's website experienced a surge in visitors and temporarily went down.

Naver: "We Are Considering"

In response, Naver has not taken any special action since announcing it would strengthen monitoring. It also declined to disclose its webtoon review guidelines.

However, Naver stated that internal discussions are ongoing.

A Naver official explained, "There are webtoon artists expressing concerns about freedom of expression, and the situation is controversial," adding, "We are carefully considering because premature responses could impact the industry."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.