From Webtoon to K-Drama

The K-drama industry has grown rapidly as fast as South Korea's reputation. With platforms like Netflix becoming widespread, K-dramas started to have a bigger ground to reach wider audiences. Many dramas of different genres, whether locally produced or in collaboration, took their place on such platforms. This diversity, aside from the dramas directly scripted for television or such platforms, also included K-dramas that originated in Webtoon users' imagination. But, what is Webtoon?

Launched in 2004 by Naver Corporation, Webtoon is a South Korean platform hosting digital comics (webtoons) created and published by users. It is a platform that partners with creators to publish their comics and reach their readers, allowing them to form their community and share their imagination with the world while delighting the readers with unforgettable stories!

When it comes to the cooperation of Webtoons and K-dramas, it is possible to say that many popular K-dramas have been webtoons once! Especially in recent years, there has been an increase in K-drama adaptations of webtoons. Now, let's take a look at some of them.

Sweet Home (2020)

Hyunsu is a lonely teen who lost his family due to a tragic accident. After having to leave his family home, he relocates to a new apartment complex. Everything starts as normal until the day monstrous creatures appear and mark the start of a new apocalyptic world where humankind is in danger of extermination.

True Beauty (2020)

Jukyung is a young girl who is bullied heavily at school for her looks. Upset and desperate, she soon learns that her family has decided to move back to their old neighborhood. Determined to make a new start, Jukyung decides to learn how to do makeup in which she excels in a short time. Now going to school with makeup on and regarded as a goddess for her beauty, she has to hide the fact that nothing is as it seems.

D.P (2021)

An Jun-Ho is a quiet and calm soldier with a great ability of observation. After his qualities are noticed by his superiors, he is transferred to the D.P. (Deserter Pursuit) team whose mission is to catch the deserters.

All Of Us Are Dead (2022)

A zombie virus spreads quickly throughout the city, trapping the students in their school. Now, they have to find a safe way out and avoid getting infected.

Tomorrow (2022)

Jun-Woong is a young, struggling job seeker. One day, he unexpectedly meets the grim reapers Koo Ryeon and Lim Ryung Gu, who are part of a team responsible for preventing human suicides. And Jun-Woong suddenly becomes their new member.

What's Wrong With Secretary Kim (2018)

Lee Young-Joon is the vice president of a large company with a great secretary, Kim Mi-So, whose work he is quite satisfied with. Although they have been a good team for nine years, Mi-So suddenly decides to quit her job. Shaken by the news, Young-Joon decides to do anything to keep her from quitting.

Strangers From Hell (Hell Is Other People) (2019)

Jong-Woo is a young guy who moves to Seoul from the countryside upon receiving a job offer. He looks for a cheap place to rent and comes across a communal residence. Although the place is a wreck with problematic and totally weird residents, Jong-Woo decides to put up with it until he saves enough money to move out. However, when disturbing events start happening in the apartment, he quickly realizes that he got himself into a hellish nightmare.

Itaewon Class (2020)

After brutally beating Geun-won, an ex-classmate who comes from a rich family with a high profile, young Saeroyi spends 2 years in jail. In the meantime, he studies Jang Dae-Hee's, Geun-Won's father, autobiography, learning the keys to his success and planning his own future. After his release, Saeroyi opens a bar in Itaewon that he manages while plotting his revenge.

Cheese In The Trap (2016)

The story revolves around Hong-Seol, a university student who focuses both on her studies and part-time job, and her relationship with her senior Yoo-Jung who is a suspiciously perfect character with good grades, an athletic side, a rich background, and a great personality. However, as their relationship progresses, Hong-Seol discovers the dark side lying under Yoo-Jung's mask.

Yumi's Cells (2021)

Yumi is a 32-year-old ordinary office worker living alone. However, she has an interesting side: She lives with thousands of human-like cells in her brain that control her mood, thoughts, actions, and feelings, each one representing something such as love, reason, hunger, and anxiety. After a bad breakup, Yumi's love cell has been in a coma for a long time and her love life has been very dull. But that won't last any longer as a new lover will be able to resurrect her love cell.

Hellbound (2021)

Horrified by the appearance of otherworldly beings raiding and terrorizing the city, humans face a new reality in which they are subject to the bloody condemnation of these beings, sending humans to hell one by one. Amid the chaos, a religious group advocating divine justice emerges.

Extraordinary You (2019)

Dan-Oh, a high school student, discovers that her life is a made-up world in a webtoon. Furthermore, she learns that she is just a side character in it and her character is soon to be removed from the series. Confused and shocked, Dan-Oh decides to change the course of the story by creating her own destiny and finding her true love.

My ID Is Gangnam Beauty (2018)

After constantly being bullied for her looks, Kang Mirae decides to undergo cosmetic surgery. Although the surgery leaves her with a beautiful appearance, the bullying from some continues, now for her "artificial" looks. Finally, time goes by and Mirae starts university, a place where no one knows her past except for her old friend Do Kyung-Seok, who has been the only person who didn't care about Mirae's looks. Slowly, an intimacy starts to blossom between the two.

The 8 Show (2024)

Eight people who are in need of money participate in a mysterious game that rewards them with money for the time they spend in an isolated building. If they can hang in there for 100 days, they will win the big prize and split it. However, they soon realize that it's not as simple as that.

A Good Day to be a Dog (2023)

Han Hae-Na is an ordinary high school teacher with an extraordinary secret: Due to her ancestors' fault, her family has been cursed, causing its members to turn into dogs when they kiss someone, and the only way to revert is to kiss the same person when in dog form. Although she gets to manage her life with such a secret, everything turns upside down when she meets a potential lover.

Images
1-kkday.com
2-webtoon.com
3,6,9,13,17-trends.kpopmap.com
4-medium.com
5-hype.my
7,12-koreaherald.com
8-commons.wikimedia.org
10-theteenytinytoutfaire.blogspot.com
11-animeclick.it
14-hot.detik.com
15-k-drama.net
16-bloganchoi.com