The 2026 Today’s Korean Comics awards have announced their five winners, with Naver WEBTOON sweeping every single spot on the list.
The 2026 Today’s Korean Comics awards (Credits: Korea Cartoonist Association)
The Korea Cartoonist Association and South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) announced the winners on October 20. The honored works are Kang Tae-jin’s Sabyeon Gwedam (Strange Tales), Hyeo Na-hyeon’s Osaka Fantasy Line, Jo Eun-young’s Low-Orbit Human, Oollong’s Journey of Iron and Ice, and Hip-hop Sinsun’s Tyranno Noh Kyung-soo.
Naver WEBTOON Dominates the 2026 Today’s Korean Comics Awards
All five winning works are serialized on Naver WEBTOON, underlining the platform’s overwhelming influence in South Korea’s comics industry. A selection committee of experts from the creative and industry sectors, plus reader representatives, evaluated 15 nominated works beginning in May, judging creativity, completeness, and contemporaneity.
Among the winners, Low-Orbit Human by artist Jo Eun-young pulled off a double win, also receiving the Korea Cartoonist Association President’s Award — the standout honor selected from the 15 finalists. Three of the winners — Osaka Fantasy Line, Low-Orbit Human, and Journey of Iron and Ice — are their creators’ first serializations on Naver WEBTOON. Journey of Iron and Ice was discovered through Naver WEBTOON’s 2024 “Strongest Competition,” while Tyranno Noh Kyung-soo creator Hip-hop Sinsun emerged from the platform’s 2022 “Greatest Contest.”
Prize Money and English Availability
First established in 1999, Today’s Korean Comics is one of South Korea’s three major comic awards, alongside the Bucheon Manhwa Awards and the Korea Content Awards. Each winning creator receives the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award and a cash prize of 7 million won (approximately US$5,000). The awards ceremony will take place on November 3 during the annual Comics Day celebration.
International fans face a wait: while four of the winners are not yet available in English, The Journey of Ice and Steel (the English title for Journey of Iron and Ice) can be read on WEBTOON, where it has been serialized in English since June.
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Source: Anime News Network — read the full story there.
