Kakao to launch webtoon platform in Indonesia for SE Asia

Kakao Entertainment Co. will launch a webtoon platform in Indonesia, the most populous country in Southeast Asia, to expand the business in the region.

The entertainment unit of South Korea’s mobile service giant Kakao Corp. on Wednesday unveiled a plan to release Kakao Webtoon in Indonesia. The platform is set to sequentially provide 50 popular webtoons such as Business Proposal and Solo Leveling with the release.

Kakao Entertainment also plans to rebrand the existing KakaoPage Indonesia, a content platform for the country, while enhancing its content, in order to strengthen its competitiveness in ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The company aims to release more than 700 webtoons by the end of this year through both Kakao Webtoon and KakaoPage Indonesia.

“Indonesia, along with North America, is an important market to realize Kakao Entertainment’s global vision,” said Charlie Park, Kakao Entertainment’s global business head. “We will become Indonesia’s leading webtoon business operator based on premium IP and service capabilities recognized in the global market,” Park said, referring to intellectual property.

Kakao Entertainment acquired NeoBazar, a major Indonesian webtoon service, in December 2018. The South Korean company provided WebComics, NeoBazar’s local service, on KakaoPage Indonesia in January 2020.

Kakao Entertainment has repeatedly said it will accelerate expansion in the global market, focusing on North America and the ASEAN markets.

Write to Seung-Woo Lee at leeswoo@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.