This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz RM Report website at 3:54 p.m. on Feb. 6, 2026.
TUBAn, the studio famous for the caterpillar character animation "Larva," was recently confirmed to have filed for corporate rehabilitation (formerly court receivership).
According to legal sources on the 6th, the Seoul Bankruptcy Court issued a comprehensive stay order on the 3rd for TUBAn. A comprehensive stay order prevents corporations that have filed for rehabilitation from disposing of assets or repaying debt without court approval. Creditors' provisional seizures and injunctions are also prohibited. Lee & Ko is representing TUBAn.
TUBAn is an animation studio founded in 2003 by Chief Executive Kim Gwang-yong. It grew rapidly as the comedy animation Larva, unveiled in 2011, gained huge popularity.
Larva was exported to 150 countries worldwide, and in 2018 it became the first Korean animation to collaborate with Netflix to be produced as original content. It has been cited as a representative success story of a homegrown Korean animation and was once called "the second Pororo."
TUBAn has pursued various businesses by leveraging Larva's intellectual property (IP), including producing and selling merchandise. In 2017, in collaboration with Jeju Shinhwa World (formerly Ramjeong Jeju Development), it opened Shinhwa Theme Park, the largest theme park in Jeju, featuring Larva characters and more. In the same year, it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Korea Scout Association and was appointed as a promotional ambassador for the "2023 World Jamboree."
However, after peaking in sales in 2016, TUBAn posted operating losses for four consecutive years from the following year through 2020. The initial public offering (IPO) it pursued on the strength of Larva's popularity ultimately fell through.
Industry watchers interpreted TUBAn's filing for rehabilitation as the result of being unable to withstand a liquidity crunch. According to the 2022 audit report, the last one to carry an audit opinion for TUBAn, its current liabilities reached 16.5 billion won, while current assets were only 8.1 billion won. Cash and cash equivalents were a mere 35 million won. The following year, TUBAn failed to submit materials required for the audit and received a disclaimer of opinion.
A major investor in TUBAn is Honors Asset Management. During the pre-IPO in 2017, 21.3 billion won was injected, of which 16.5 billion won is known to have been Honors Asset Management's share. If TUBAn fails to resolve its liquidity crisis and is liquidated, losses for Honors Asset Management will likely be unavoidable.