Kyowon Group Launches First In-House Venture 'TOCK'... Web Novel Contest Underway

Web Novel Contest Held as Part of Strategy to Secure Future Web Novel Writers

Kyowon Group announced on the 3rd that 'TOCK,' selected as the company's first in-house venture, is holding a web novel contest for teenagers. Photo by Kyowon Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Kyowon Group announced on the 3rd that its first in-house venture, ‘TOCK (Tokkeu),’ is holding a web novel contest for teenagers.

TOCK is an interactive web novel platform for Generation Z. It won first place in the in-house venture incubation program 'Deep Change Idea Prize' held last July.

TOCK plans and produces web novels incorporating immersive content based on VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) targeting Generation Z. Additionally, it will launch an open platform where amateur creators can freely showcase their works to readers.

In particular, Kyowon explained that they plan to officially launch in January next year with the goal of creating a 'web novel playground for Generation Z' by building a community where users can exchange information and share opinions about works.

As part of its strategy to secure future web novel writers, TOCK is holding a 'web novel contest.' Any teenager in South Korea can participate, and applications are accepted until December 9. The contest covers two genres: SF fantasy and science, and alternate history and romance fantasy. The works must be serialized with at least 2,500 characters per episode and a minimum of five episodes.

The contest will select 10 works on December 22 and award a total prize of 1 million KRW. Winners will have the opportunity to serialize their works officially on the TOCK platform and have their works published in Kyowon Group’s magazines Science Boy and Wiz Kids. They will also be offered mentoring programs by professional writers and current web novel professors, providing opportunities to grow into professional writers.

A Kyowon Group TOCK representative said, “Before the official platform launch, we planned this contest to find service ideas from the perspective of our main customer base, Generation Z, and to strengthen our relationship with them. As the first in-house venture company, we will present services specialized for Generation Z and grow it into a core new business of the group.”

Kyowon actively supports and nurtures in-house ventures to build an innovative organizational culture and pioneer new markets. The in-house venture incubation program 'Deep Change Idea Prize,' first implemented this July, received applications from 70 teams, and two teams were finally selected to proceed with commercialization.

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