KT's webcomic unit to spend W10b on content creation

Storywiz Co., a webcomic unit of South Korean telecom giant KT Corp., said Tuesday it will spend 10 billion won ($8.7 million) on content creation, heating up competition in the growing local web fiction market.

Storywiz, established in February this year after KT spun off its web fiction business, specializes in publishing online serial novels and comics. Its web novel platform Blice competes with larger local rivals, such as KakaoPage of the country's top messenger operator, Kakao Corp.

KT's webcomic company said it will use the new investment to establish a content production system to develop new original content and intellectual property that can be used across multiple platforms from webcomics to films.

Storywiz said it plans to increase investment and will make joint investment with its parent KT Group. It added that it will provide intellectual property to its parent group for original content production in diverse platforms.

Currently, KT operates the video streaming service Seezn, which has recently focused on creating original productions.

Storywiz said it plans to establish a content studio in Japan as it sets its sights on overseas markets.

South Korea's web comic market was estimated at 466.3 billion won in 2018, according to the Korea Creative Content Agency. (Yonhap)