The largest manhwa and webnovel distribution sites have officially closed down.
Newtokki, an illegal site that distributes manhwa, Manatokki, an illegal site that distributes manga, and Booktokki, an illegal site for distributes webnovels, posted a notice on their website, announcing that they had shut down their sites and all data stored on the sites will be deleted. All three sites have also revealed that they have no plans to resume services in the future and that the page will be maintained until midnight before automatically shutting down. They also warned that any sites using similar names were impersonators.
As per Chosun Biz, Newtokki emerged after Bamtokki, another illegal site for manhwa, shut down in 2018. The site has amassed around 126 million visits in the last month alone according to traffic analytics from Similarweb, and has resulted in a loss of almost 39.8 billion won to the webcomics industry.
Numerous Korean webcomic creators have spoken out about the effects of illegal manhwa distribution sites over the years which includes not only the large loss of income but also the physical and mental health deterioration that accompanies it, and all condemning those who use these sites. Creators have spoken about the losing motivation when they see their works being accessed illegally and have considered abandoning the industry. Efforts by the artists to take down the illegal websites have largely not worked with Haesin Young, creator of BL manhwa Pian Pian, being one of the rare success stories when she threatened legal action against Mangago and successfully had her work taken down from the site.
The crackdown of illegal sites have slowly been gaining traction in the past year with Bato.to, one of the world’s largest manga piracy aggregation sites, shutting down at the beginning of the year.
On the same day as Newtokki/Manatokki/Bamtokki’s shutdown, the country’s Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism announced the implementation of an emergency and access blocking system which will block sites that distribute illegal content. This will take effect starting on May 11.
Source: Newtoki, Chosun Biz, and The Asian Business Daily
