Game-Webtoon Industry Relieved as National Assembly Invites YouTubers and Unions Instead of CEOs

Culture Committee summons YouTuber Kim Seonghoe to discuss user rights protection
Environment and Labor Committee reviews webtoon artists' working conditions and discusses legal amendments

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] The National Assembly is set to examine the gaming and webtoon industries, which have recently been embroiled in various controversies, during the upcoming national audit. However, instead of focusing on the often-criticized "public shaming of businesspeople," the plan is to address issues through the voices of those actively working in the field.

To Review Game Users' Rights, Game YouTubers Called Instead of CEOs

According to the National Assembly on the 29th, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee will summon the game YouTuber ‘Kim Seonghoe’s G Encyclopedia’ as a witness on October 5. This witness request aims to "listen to alternatives for protecting and strengthening the rights of users in the domestic gaming industry."

Recently, the gaming industry has been embroiled in controversies as users have staged protests and filed lawsuits against game companies. Kakao Games faced the so-called "carriage protest" over the operation of the mobile game ‘Uma Musume Pretty Derby.’ Although a meeting was held between the operators and users, the conflict was not resolved, and users have since filed refund lawsuits against Kakao Games.

NCSoft drew criticism from users for paying advertising fees to specific YouTubers to promote their games. Users of the mobile game ‘Lineage 2M’ held a truck protest over promotional controversies and have announced plans to sue NCSoft. Users of Uma Musume have also pledged to join this lawsuit.

As the controversy grew, it was expected that game company CEOs would be called as witnesses. However, the National Assembly decided to place greater emphasis on hearing the voices of game users. ‘Kim Seonghoe’s G Encyclopedia,’ selected as a witness, is a game YouTuber with 770,000 subscribers who actively communicates with game users and has extensive experience working at multiple game companies.

Webtoon and Web Novel Authors’ Working Conditions Under Scrutiny... Calls for Legal Revisions Grow

The Environment and Labor Committee will examine the rapidly growing webtoon industry, which is expanding quickly worldwide. While last year’s audit focused on revenue sharing between webtoon and web novel creators and platforms, this year’s focus will be on the hidden labor conditions of webtoon authors behind the steep growth.

The audit is expected to include inspections of Kakao Webtoon and Naver Webtoon, representatives of the webtoon industry. In July, Jang Seongrak, the art artist of the popular webtoon ‘Solo Leveling’ serialized on Kakao Webtoon, passed away at the young age of 37, bringing the webtoon industry’s intense labor practices under scrutiny. Less than two months later, the art artist of Kakao Page’s webtoon ‘Roxana’ revealed experiencing a miscarriage due to overwork, amplifying calls for a review of the current system.

Accordingly, the Environment and Labor Committee plans to summon Seo Beomgang, chairman of the Webtoon Industry Association, and Ha Sina, secretary-general of the Webtoon Authors’ Labor Union, as witnesses at the comprehensive audit of the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Economic and Social Labor Council (ESLC) scheduled for the 24th of next month. The audit is expected to generate demands for legal revisions that go beyond the 2012 Cartoon Promotion Act to encompass the newly grown webtoon and web novel markets.

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