Lee Jae-myung, a candidate for the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential primary, announced on the 18th a pledge to provide tax benefits to the webtoon industry, causing related stocks to fluctuate.
As of 9:33 a.m. that day, the webtoon platform company Finger Story was trading at 3,715 won, up 645 won (21.01%) from the previous day. Mr. Blue rose 10.61% to 1,647 won, and KidariStudio increased by 7.67% to 4,280 won. Soosung Webtoon also saw a 4.39% increase to 5,710 won, while YLAB was trading at 7,090 won, up 1.29%.
The candidate noted on that day through his social media (SNS), "I will strengthen national support throughout the entire process of K-content creation. I will foster the K-culture platform to systematically support all stages from content production to entering the global market and content distribution," and added, "I will actively expand the production infrastructure such as virtual studios needed for video production."
He continued, "I will also foster the webtoon industry as a core pillar of K-culture," stating, "I will expand the tax benefits applied to video content to the webtoon sector and actively support small and medium-sized enterprises' entry into overseas markets, including translation, distribution, and overseas marketing."
The candidate will visit the Daehyun Library located in Buk-gu, Daegu, that day. Daehyun Library is the country's first smart library focused on webtoons.