Top 10 Korean Webtoons of All Time

Son Jeho and Lee Kwangsu's action fantasy about a noble vampire lord awakening in modern Seoul after 820 years of slumber was the first webtoon to exceed one billion views and the series that proved Korean digital comics could sustain a global fandom. The Crunchyroll anime adaptation aired in 2020.

Park Tae-joon's body-swap story about an overweight bullied teenager who wakes in a physically attractive body explores the brutal social economics of appearance in contemporary Korea and became a global Netflix animated series in 2022. The webtoon's unflinching examination of beauty standards resonated powerfully across East and Southeast Asia.

Yaongyi's romantic comedy about a girl who uses makeup skills to transform her appearance at a new school became a cultural moment when its JTBC drama adaptation starring Moon Ga-young and Cha Eun-woo broke streaming records in 2020. The webtoon's commentary on beauty standards in Korean high school culture sparked nationwide discussion.

Chugong and Jang Sung-rak's action fantasy about the world's weakest hunter gaining the ability to level up became the highest-rated webtoon in Kakao Webtoon history and spawned an anime adaptation that topped streaming charts in over 100 countries. The series defined the power fantasy progression genre for a generation of manhwa readers.

Seopass and Kim Jin-seok's story of a small but genius student who systematically defeats school bullies through tactical intelligence rather than brute strength reimagined the school delinquency genre. The live-action adaptation starring Park Ji-hoon became one of Rakuten Viki's most-watched Korean dramas of 2022.

Maengguui Webtoon's romance series about a girl who undergoes cosmetic surgery before university and navigates judgment from peers was adapted into a beloved JTBC drama and sparked the most substantive mainstream debate about cosmetic surgery culture in Korean media history.

Park Yong-je's martial arts tournament webtoon earned an anime adaptation from MAPPA studio and is credited with introducing Korean manhwa to global audiences through Crunchyroll alongside Tower of God. The kinetic fight choreography translated to animation with extraordinary fidelity.

Carnby Kim and Youngchan Hwang's horror series about apartment residents trying to survive a monster apocalypse was adapted into Netflix's most-watched Korean original drama of 2020, eventually eclipsed only by Squid Game. The monsters' design, which transforms humans based on their deepest desire, is among the most conceptually inventive in the horror genre.

Lee Dong-gun's Yumi's Cells, which visualises a woman's internal emotional life as a city of tiny cells managing her decisions, was praised for its formally innovative storytelling and launched a tvN drama adaptation that won multiple Baeksang Arts Awards. The webtoon's unique approach to depicting interiority influenced an entire generation of Korean comics.

Son Jeho and Lee Kwangsu's action fantasy about a noble vampire lord awakening in modern Seoul after 820 years of slumber was the first webtoon to exceed one billion views and the series that proved Korean digital comics could sustain a global fandom. The Crunchyroll anime adaptation aired in 2020.

Park Tae-joon's body-swap story about an overweight bullied teenager who wakes in a physically attractive body explores the brutal social economics of appearance in contemporary Korea and became a global Netflix animated series in 2022. The webtoon's unflinching examination of beauty standards resonated powerfully across East and Southeast Asia.

Yaongyi's romantic comedy about a girl who uses makeup skills to transform her appearance at a new school became a cultural moment when its JTBC drama adaptation starring Moon Ga-young and Cha Eun-woo broke streaming records in 2020. The webtoon's commentary on beauty standards in Korean high school culture sparked nationwide discussion.

Chugong and Jang Sung-rak's action fantasy about the world's weakest hunter gaining the ability to level up became the highest-rated webtoon in Kakao Webtoon history and spawned an anime adaptation that topped streaming charts in over 100 countries. The series defined the power fantasy progression genre for a generation of manhwa readers.

Seopass and Kim Jin-seok's story of a small but genius student who systematically defeats school bullies through tactical intelligence rather than brute strength reimagined the school delinquency genre. The live-action adaptation starring Park Ji-hoon became one of Rakuten Viki's most-watched Korean dramas of 2022.

Maengguui Webtoon's romance series about a girl who undergoes cosmetic surgery before university and navigates judgment from peers was adapted into a beloved JTBC drama and sparked the most substantive mainstream debate about cosmetic surgery culture in Korean media history.

Park Yong-je's martial arts tournament webtoon earned an anime adaptation from MAPPA studio and is credited with introducing Korean manhwa to global audiences through Crunchyroll alongside Tower of God. The kinetic fight choreography translated to animation with extraordinary fidelity.

Carnby Kim and Youngchan Hwang's horror series about apartment residents trying to survive a monster apocalypse was adapted into Netflix's most-watched Korean original drama of 2020, eventually eclipsed only by Squid Game. The monsters' design, which transforms humans based on their deepest desire, is among the most conceptually inventive in the horror genre.

Lee Dong-gun's Yumi's Cells, which visualises a woman's internal emotional life as a city of tiny cells managing her decisions, was praised for its formally innovative storytelling and launched a tvN drama adaptation that won multiple Baeksang Arts Awards. The webtoon's unique approach to depicting interiority influenced an entire generation of Korean comics.