“2025 World Webtoon Awards” to be held on October 22, online voting for the Readers’ Choice Award began on September 1

Special exhibition (Oct. 19–22) & pop-up stores (Oct. 16–26) linked to “World Webtoon Festival”

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister CHAE Hwi-young, MCST), together with the Korea Creative Content Agency (Acting Director Yoo Hyun-seok), announced the 26 nominated works for the main prizes in the “2025 World Webtoon Awards.” Now in its second year, the World Webtoon Awards celebrates excellence in webtoons to boost pride among people in the industry and solidify Korea’s status as the originator and leader of the global webtoon market. This year’s awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday, October 22, at Lotte Cinema World Tower in Seoul.

The call for submissions drew 1,338 reader-recommended works, showcasing the strong interest of fans worldwide. The nominees were selected from a total of 99 titles, comprising 78 entries from creators and production companies and the top 21 reader-recommended works. After a rigorous screening by key domestic webtoon platform representatives, 26 titles were selected as shortlist nominees, including three titles by Japanese creators.

New “Readers’ Choice Award” selected by readers worldwide, online voting from

 Sept. 1 to Oct. 21

Webtoon artist Gwangjin, winner of the 2024 Jury Chairman’s Award, joins the judging panel

This year introduces a new “Readers’ Choice Award,” allowing readers around the world to participate directly in voting. The award will go to the nominee with the highest number of votes cast online among the 26 shortlisted works. Online voting runs from September 1 until October 21, the day before the awards ceremony, through the official website (www.webtoonawards.kr). Each person can vote once per week, for a total of eight votes during the period. Participants will also have a chance to win a variety of prizes through a draw.

Winners of the main prizes will be selected from the 26 nominees, with ten titles, including those awarded the Grand Prize and the Jury Chairman’s Award. The final judging panel consists of ten experts representing creators, academia, critics, and industry professionals, led by Jury Chairman Lee Hyun-se. This year, Gwangjin, who won the Jury Chairman’s Award in 2024 with The Great, will also participate as a judge, adding professional insight to the process.

Special exhibition and pop-up stores linked to the World Webtoon Festival

The awards ceremony will take place in conjunction with the “World Webtoon Festival,” which will be held from October 19 to 22 at and around the Lotte World Ice Rink. During the festival, a special exhibition will be set up at the rink, and a variety of webtoon pop-up stores will open at Lotte Tower from October 16 to 26.

For more information about the World Webtoon Awards and the World Webtoon Festival, including details on the voting event and invitations to the awards ceremony, visit their official websites: www.webtoonawards.kr (Awards) and www.wefe.kr (Festival).