kwebtoon1-7, Exercise 1: Markets and closures

Model answer (any three markets):

- Japan: Naver entered in 2016 as XOY; closed 18 December 2018, with content migrated to Line Manga. Webtoons were slow to catch on because of the traditional manga industry; Kakao's Piccoma carries translated Korean webtoons.
- China: Naver entered in 2016 as Dongman Manhua; the Webtoon article says webtoons and web manhua have grown, with big portals run by large Chinese internet companies.
- India: Line Webtoon's 2014 launch was the first app to introduce webtoons; Kross Komics (founded May 2019) reported 1.1 million monthly active users in July 2021 and closed in 2023; Kakao continued with Tapas.
- Southeast Asia: Naver (as WEBTOON) and Comico offer originals and translations in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand; Vietnam's Vinatoon offers Daum Webtoon titles.
- West: biggest successes in the U.S. and other English-speaking countries.

Closures (any two): XOY, 18 December 2018; Kross Komics, 2023; Piccoma Europe, announced 27 May 2024, ending 30 September 2024; Kakao's plan announced 22 September 2026 to shut Tapas and merge Kakao Webtoon into KakaoPage by the end of 2026.

Sources: Wikipedia, Webtoon; Webtoon (platform); Piccoma; Kakao Webtoon.