Be careful of impersonation sites that pretend to be NewToki.
This is a notice posted recently on an illegal webtoon site. When a webtoon was opened there, a warning message from the original platform, Naver Webtoon, saying "Illegal capture and distribution are criminal acts" appeared on the screen. But below it, alongside the logo of another "NewToki" site, were the phrases "If you see this image, it's a copycat site that took it without permission" and "You can see it a day earlier on our site."
Although the government implemented an emergency blocking system for illegal webtoon sites on the 11th of last month, illegal sites still appear to be rampant. As NewToki, the largest illegal webtoon site, declared its shutdown, expectations for market normalization grew, but instead, follow-up sites claiming to be the "real NewToki" have emerged and are even fighting to attract users.
According to the industry on the 1st, at least four illegal webtoon sites are operating that use the NewToki name or claim to be its successor. All of these sites front the NewToki name in their address names or website logos. Some sites have even posted notices saying "Be careful of sites impersonating NewToki," asserting that they are the original.
This situation began as the government strengthened blocks on illegal webtoon sites. With the Copyright Act amended in February, the government introduced an emergency blocking and access blocking system that allows illegal sites to be blocked first. Previously, it could take up to several months to block a site because it had to go through deliberation and resolution by the Korea Communications Standards Commission, but now sites can be blocked as soon as illegal copying is detected.
With the system's implementation announced for the 11th of last month, NewToki and related sites preemptively declared service termination on Mar. 27. Some expected that as major illegal sites shut down one after another, illegal distribution of webtoons would also decrease.
But expectations missed the mark. Site A, bearing the NewToki name, opened on Apr. 28, the day after the original NewToki shutdown, and Site B also began service in early last month. The number of users has grown quickly, and Site A's peak concurrent users is said to reach 200,000.
Competition among them is also intensifying. Site A posted a recruitment notice for translators and letterers, saying it would give 300,000 won in department store gift certificates. Site B is running an invitation system that accrues 1 won each time a site L.I.N.C is shared and draws visitors. As of the day, the user who shared the most links is said to have attracted more than 50,000 visitors.
As follow-up sites rapidly expand their footprint, some say the emergency blocking system is not working properly. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued emergency blocking orders on the first day of implementation, the 11th of last month, for 34 sites including NewToki. But operators are evading enforcement by opening new domains with numbers appended after the old address is blocked. Because of this, in addition to sites posing as NewToki, dozens of illegal webtoon sites are still operating.
In particular, even if the address changes, they are maintaining users by sharing the new address in real time via Telegram. As of the day, the Telegram channel subscribers of Site A and Site B total 46,000 and 70,000, respectively. Also, on portals such as Google, search results for illegal webtoon sites are still exposed as is, making them accessible through search alone.
The industry worries that if this situation persists, the scale of damage will grow further. According to the 2024 Webtoon Industry Survey by the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), damage from illegal copying of webtoons in 2023 totaled 446.5 billion won, up 13.6% from 393.2 billion won the previous year. As of 2024, damage from NewToki alone amounts to about 40 billion won.
An industry official said, "Illegal sites have repeatedly reappeared by rapidly switching content delivery networks (CDNs), overseas servers, and domains, so there is a limit to access blocking alone," adding, "Arresting operating organizations; cooperation from CDN and hosting providers; international cooperation; recovery of criminal revenue; and tougher penalties for habitual infringement must all be pursued together to prevent similar cases from recurring."