The 2025 World Webtoon Awards concluded Wednesday evening at Lotte Cinema World Tower in Seoul, recognizing 11 exceptional webtoon works that showcase the pinnacle of digital storytelling and artistic excellence. The awards ceremony served as the grand finale of the World Webtoon Festival, hosted by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in partnership with the Korea Creative Content Agency.

In its second year, the competition attracted approximately 1,400 entries from creators worldwide, including both direct submissions and reader-recommended titles. From this extensive pool of international talent, judges selected ten works for main awards, while readers chose one additional title through a global voting process. The rigorous selection process highlights the rapidly growing quality and diversity within the global webtoon industry.

The prestigious grand prize was awarded to "Mirae's Antique Shop" by Korean creator Gu A-jin, a work celebrated for its masterful storytelling techniques and emotionally evocative artwork. Set against the atmospheric backdrop of a remote southern island, this occult-themed webtoon follows the protagonist Mirae as she gradually uncovers a disturbing family secret following her parents' mysterious disappearance. The judges praised the work for its narrative consistency and profound emotional depth, qualities that previously earned it the Presidential Award at the 2022 Korea Content Awards.

The jury chair's award went to "Omniscient Reader," created by writers UMI, who handled the adaptation, and Sleepy-C, who provided the illustrations. This popular series is based on a web novel of the same name and tells the compelling story of an ordinary office worker whose favorite fictional story suddenly becomes his reality. The work achieved the rare distinction of winning a main award for the second consecutive year, demonstrating its sustained excellence and popularity among both critics and audiences.

"Omniscient Reader" has become a major intellectual property success story, accumulating an impressive 2.5 billion views combined across both its web novel and webtoon versions. The franchise's commercial success extends beyond digital platforms, with a recent film adaptation bringing the story to movie theaters. Lee Hyun-se, who served as jury chair for the awards, explained his selection criteria by stating, "I always try to give this award to exceptionally innovative work."

Beyond the top honors, main prizes were distributed among a diverse range of outstanding works including "Father, Unrivaled," "Get Schooled," "Like Mother, Like Daughter," "Myst, Might, Mayhem," "Maru is a Puppy," "Tears on a Withered Flower," "The Uncanny Counter," and "The Fourth Time's the Husband." Notably, "The Fourth Husband" by Japanese creator Akio Chinami made history as the first overseas webtoon to claim a top prize at the awards, signaling the truly international scope of the competition.

A newly introduced Reader's Choice Award was presented to "Debut or Diet," created by Jang Jin for adaptation and Sohun for illustration. This crowd favorite dominated the global fan voting process, winning seven out of eight weeks of competition with participation from more than 26,000 readers worldwide. The reader voting component demonstrates the awards' commitment to recognizing both critical excellence and popular appeal.

The competitive landscape for these awards reflects the explosive growth of the webtoon industry, particularly in South Korea where approximately 15,000 new webtoons are released annually. This staggering volume of new content makes the final selections all the more remarkable, showcasing works that managed to distinguish themselves in an increasingly crowded and competitive market.

Kim Young-soo, speaking at the ceremony, expressed ambitious goals for the awards' future development. "The World Webtoon Awards will continue to grow into the most prestigious event of its kind – the Cannes of the webtoon world," Kim declared. He drew parallels to the Cannes Film Festival's humble beginnings, noting that "when the Cannes Film Festival was first held in 1946, it drew only about 300 people. Today, it has become one of the world's most prestigious film events. I hope the World Webtoon Awards will similarly grow into a grand, world-class celebration of webtoons."

The vice minister also outlined the government's continued commitment to supporting the rapidly expanding industry. He highlighted the sector's tremendous economic potential, stating, "The webtoon and comics sector, currently valued at around 3 trillion won, has the potential to grow to 30 trillion or even 300 trillion won. The Culture Ministry will continue to back this growth by working with the Korea Creative Content Agency, industry and academia to foster talent and advance technology and research."

The awards ceremony marked the conclusion of the broader World Webtoon Festival, which transformed Seoul's Jamsil Lotte Town into a vibrant celebration of webtoon culture over several days beginning Sunday. The festival featured extensive exhibitions showcasing the art form's evolution and fan events that brought together creators and enthusiasts from around the world. While the main festival events have concluded, organizers announced that the popular pop-up market will remain accessible to visitors through October 26, providing continued opportunities for fans to engage with webtoon culture and purchase exclusive merchandise.