Korea-Vietnam cooperation leads to shutdown; 2 suspects summoned for questioning

A screenshot of the illegal webtoon distribution site "Hari***." [Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]
A screenshot of the illegal webtoon distribution site "Hari***." [Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]

Three Vietnamese websites that illegally distributed Korean webtoons, causing annual losses estimated at more than 207.2 billion won ($131 million), have been shut down.

South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Friday that it worked with Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security — specifically its Department of Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention — to shut down three sites illegally distributing K-webtoons and apprehend two of their operators.

The three sites — "Hari***," "Manhwa**" and "Kun***" — were operated by Vietnamese nationals beginning in January 2023, authorities confirmed. The operators illegally translated Korean webtoons into English and distributed them without authorization to users across Asia, North America, Europe and other regions, generating revenue through banner advertising on the sites.

The sites distributed more than 14,700 webtoon titles, roughly 70 percent of which were K-webtoons. The sites drew a combined 1.105 billion visitors annually, with industry estimates putting annual damages at approximately 207.2 billion won.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism began working-level meetings with Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security and Interpol in June last year, then activated an Interpol international cooperative investigation channel in September last year. In November last year, it signed an MOU with Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security on copyright protection cooperation.

Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security began verifying the suspects' illegal activities in January and summoned two individuals on suspected intellectual property rights violations in mid-May for questioning. Investigators are continuing to probe the suspects' conduct and have seized all three sites' servers, taking the sites fully offline.

Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security plans to proceed with indictment once it concludes its investigation of the two suspects.

In February, the two ministries also cooperated with Naver Webtoon and Kakao Entertainment to summon and question one suspect behind the illegal site "Com**" and shut that site down.

Culture Minister Choe Hwi-yeong said the case "carries great significance in that it presented a successful model of public-private cooperation and international collaboration to combat overseas copyright infringement of K-content." He added that the ministry would "continue to strengthen international cooperation against illegal distribution of K-content and further solidify the foundation for overseas copyright protection, so that K-content can receive its rightful recognition around the world."

Seven companies belonging to the Webtoon Illegal Distribution Response Council — Kakao Entertainment, Naver Webtoon, Ridi, Kidari Studio, Lezhin Entertainment, Toptoon Media and Toomics — issued a statement welcoming the development.

The council called the case "a meaningful step toward holding accountable those responsible for copyright infringement that has long caused enormous damage to creators, rights holders and the platform industry as a whole." It expressed hope that "awareness will continue to grow that illegal distribution is not merely an infringement of creators' rights but a serious crime that undermines the very foundation of the industry's growth," and pledged to keep working closely with the government and relevant agencies to stamp out illegal distribution and protect creators' rights.


pink@heraldcorp.com