Renowned webtoon creators Ha Il-kwon of ‘God of Bath,’ SEOPASS of ‘Weak Hero,’ and Im Lina of ‘Unholy Blood’ share a common thread beyond their international popularity – they are all alumni of Sejong University, often referred to as the boot camp of the webtoon industry. In the years 2022 and 2023, Sejong University produced two winners in the highly acclaimed ‘The Greatest Webtoon Contest,’ known as the largest webtoon talent search in South Korea, conducted by Naver Webtoon, the web-based cartoon platform of domestic tech giant Naver. The university’s Comics and Animation Tech Department, established in 1996, has seen over 500 graduates making significant contributions to the global industries of webtoons, animation, and games.
Even Lee Hyun-se, the creator of ‘Alien Baseball Team,’ serves as an honorary professor in the department, passing on his expertise to students. Professor Lee Soon-ki, the current department head, actively engages in webtoon creation alongside his teaching duties, demonstrating the dynamic nature of the faculty. Speaking about the increasing international interest, Lee mentioned, “We are witnessing a growing number of foreign students coming to Korea to learn about webtoons, comprising half of the total student population.”
In a recent scene at Sejong University’s Guanja Hall 412 in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, the ‘Digital Comics Production’ class was in full swing. The students, tasked with planning and drawing the first episodes of their webtoons, received personalized feedback from Lee. His advice ranged from the importance of depicting facial features correctly to maintaining proper layout balance. Notably, international students were present, with Vo Thien Trang from Vietnam expressing her aspiration after being inspired by Yaongi’s ‘True Beauty,’ and a student from China, Ma Hui, motivated by Im Ii-mo’s ‘Pirate King.’ Ma is determined to create his own works and prepare for exhibitions in the upcoming semester.
Sejong University’s Comics and Animation Tech Department, which has been part of the emergence of K-webtoons, teaches students the fundamentals of webtoon creation in the first year, illustration in the second year, and planning and directing in the third and fourth years. For their graduation projects, students are required to produce works with a minimum of 500 panels.
Sejong University established the ‘SECAN Studio’ within the department in 2020, collaborating with Jaedam Media, a webtoon production company. Their joint creations, ‘Does God Play Dice’ and ‘God’s Butler,’ are currently serialized on Naver Webtoon, receiving high ratings of 9.78 and 9.84, respectively, and garnering positive reader responses. The creation of SECAN Studio reflects the university’s commitment to adapting to the changing landscape of the webtoon industry and providing students with practical opportunities.
Lee emphasized that students at Sejong University’s Comics and Animation Tech Department are not merely aspiring to become “overnight stars” but are encouraged to identify their unique strengths through classes, shaping their future careers in the evolving world of webtoons.
