SEOUL, October 12, 2023 — Fans of super popular K-drama, Strong Girl Nam-soon, have something equally compelling to dive into: a spin-off webtoon called Strong Girl Geum-joo (working title). The webtoon series began just before the TV drama premiere and was launched on the Kakao Webtoon and Kakao Page platforms in Korea first, taking readers through the backstory of Nam-soon’s mother, Hwang Geum-joo. Fans around the world will be happy to know that the webtoon is coming to them soon, with availability in Japan, the United States, and Thailand scheduled for later this year.

Releasing both a webtoon and drama in tandem is a tribute to fan devotion to the series and shows just how committed Kakao Entertainment is to expanding the Strong Girl universe.

It’s also a testament to the company’s long-term strategy of maximizing the firepower of its franchise titles by using multiple formats like webtoons and TV dramas to deepen the boundaries of storytelling, much as it did with the highly successful TV drama, King the Land, released earlier this year.

Pioneering TV Drama Fuses with Cutting-edge Webtoon Storytelling

Strong Girl holds a special place in the K-Drama scene. Created by the uber-talented screenwriter Baek Mi-kyung and directed by Kim Jung-sik (creator of the hugely popular series Work Later, Drink Now) together with Lee Kyung-sik, it pioneered female hero storylines, starting with Strong Girl Bong-soon in 2017.

Fast forward six years to Strong Girl Nam-soon, and we’re talking about a captivating storyline that spans three generations of extraordinary women – grandmother, mother, and daughter – who use their superhuman strength to uncover the truth behind recent drug crimes in Seoul’s tony Gangnam district. Since premiering on October 7 in Korea, the TV drama has already become a hit, with a viewership rating of 6.1% in its first week of broadcast*.

Then there’s the webtoon backstory. Created by Lee Won-sik and illustrated by Tuna Can, the webtoon adds depth by following the tragic narrative of Nam-soon’s mother Geum-joo, who loses her daughter in a devastating accident. She’s driven by a desire for justice and the hope that her influence can make the world a better place.

While the TV drama follows Geum-joo’s quest to find her daughter in the present day, along with her efforts to fight crime, the webtoon takes us back to her high school days, showing how the character develops through the window of her journey into adulthood and family life, and her path to business success. It’s a whole new level of storytelling depth that fans of the drama are going to love.  

Spinoff Webtoons pave the way for New Collaborations

The webtoon Strong Girl Geum-joo was strategically launched two weeks before the TV drama, with serialization starting ahead of the premiere. The synergy between writer Lee Won-sik and artist Tuna Can has already made for some eye-popping viewership numbers, pulling in some 400,000 views on Kakao Page and Kakao Webtoon in just a few short weeks.

Kakao Entertainment Puts Fans First with Great Storytelling

If you love richly developed storylines across multiple viewing formats, then buckle up for the adventures to come because Kakao Entertainment is not slowing down on its unique approach.

Kakao Entertainment will continue to create spin-off webtoons like Strong Girl Geum-joo and King the Land to raise the value of our titles overall. This is because stories adapted from different formats, such as dramas, bring a fresh perspective to the webtoon medium and pave the way for further creative exploration among diverse industry partners.

Stay tuned for more of Kakao Entertainment’s captivating cross-platform creative works ahead!

*Source: Nielson Korea