The history behind Manhwa

Here we will show you a little, how Manhwa came to be

The term Manhwa came into popular use in Korea during the 1920s, when it was applied to cartoons.

During the early years of Japanese occupation, newspaper comics featured a great deal of social criticism.

Popular artist Kim Yong-hwan started Korea's first comic magazine, Manhwa Haengjin, in 1948.

In response to social and political changes within South Korea, the government began to enforce censorship laws and, by the mid-1960s, created a comics distribution monopoly that further censored manhwa.

In the 1990s, the ban on Japanese media was lifted, which helped to influence the present-day art and styles of contemporary Manhwa.

Then in the early 2000s, the majority of Manhwa was transferred to online sources due to economic collapse that South Korea had experienced at the end of the millennium.

Manhwas that are posted on online sources are called Webtoons.

These were also beneficial to creators, because it helped them get around strict South Korean censorship laws.

Since their creation, webtoons have gained popularity around the globe and have even been adopted outside of Korea as another form of comic publication.