Grand prize goes to ‘Mirae’s Antique Shop’ by Gu A-jin
The World Webtoon Festival, hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency, culminated in the 2025 World Webtoon Awards, which recognized 11 outstanding works.
In the competition’s second year, out of some 1,400 entries from around the world — including both submissions and reader-recommended titles — ten received main awards and one title was chosen by readers, according to the culture ministry.
The grand prize went to “Mirae’s Antique Shop” by Gu A-jin, honored for its masterful storytelling and evocative artistry. Set on a remote southern island, the occult-themed webtoon follows Mirae as she uncovers a haunting family secret after her parents’ disappearance. The work, lauded for its consistency and emotional depth, had previously earned the Presidential Award at the 2022 Korea Content Awards.
The jury chair’s award was presented to “Omniscient Reader” by writers UMI (adaptation) and Sleepy-C (illustration). Based on the popular web novel of the same title, the series reimagines the tale of an ordinary office worker whose favorite novel becomes reality.
Having also received a main award last year, the series marked a rare consecutive win. With a combined 2.5 billion views across the web novel and webtoon versions, the work has grown into a major intellectual property, even inspiring a recently released film adaptation.
Lee Hyun-se, the jury chair, said, “I always try to give this award to exceptionally innovative work.”
In addition to the grand prize and jury chair’s awards, main prizes also went to “Father, Unrivaled,” “Get Schooled,” “Like Mother, Like Daughter,” “Myst, Might, Mayhem,” “Maru is a Puppy,” “Mirae’s Antique Shop,” “Tears on a Withered Flower,” “The Uncanny Counter,” and “The Fourth Time’s the Husband.”
Among them, “The Fourth Husband” by Japanese creator Akio Chinami became the first overseas webtoon to claim a top prize.
A new Readers’ Choice Award went to Debut or Diet by Jang Jin (adaptation) and Sohun (illustration), which topped seven out of eight weeks of global fan voting with more than 26,000 participants.
Considering that about 15,000 new webtoons are released in Korea alone each year, the final selection reflects the exceptional competition and creative diversity within the local market.
“The World Webtoon Awards will continue to grow into the most prestigious event of its kind — the Cannes of the webtoon world,” Kim Young-soo said. “When the Cannes Film Festival was first held in 1946, it drew only about 300 people. Today, it has become one of the world’s most prestigious film events. I hope the World Webtoon Awards will similarly grow into a grand, world-class celebration of webtoons. Congratulations once again to all the winners,” Kim said at the ceremony.
The vice minister also pledged continued support for the industry.
“The webtoon and comics sector, currently valued at around 3 trillion won, has the potential to grow to 30 trillion or even 300 trillion won. The Culture Ministry will continue to back this growth by working with the Korea Creative Content Agency, industry and academia to foster talent and advance technology and research,” he said.
The ceremony concluded the World Webtoon Festival, which transformed Seoul’s Jamsil Lotte Town into a hub of exhibitions and fan events from Sunday. The festival’s pop-up market will remain open through Oct. 26.
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