The popular webtoon Wind Breaker by creator Yongseok Jo has been officially canceled following confirmed allegations of plagiarism. The announcement, made jointly by Naver Webtoon and the creator, revealed that several portions of the webtoon were found to be strikingly similar, or nearly identical, to scenes and compositions from other works. The series has over 600 million views on WEBTOON at the time of this writing.
Yongseok Jo also issued a personal apology, admitting to referencing materials that resulted in unacceptably similar imagery. He acknowledged his failure to uphold creative standards amid the pressure of constant deadlines and took full responsibility for the misconduct. His full statement on the Wind Breaker Webtoon /Manhwa Being Canceled:
Hello, this is Jo Yongseok.
First of all, I sincerely apologize for the distress caused to many due to the recent tracing allegations related to my work.
Among the reference materials I used while working, some scenes turned out to be very similar to or almost identical in expression to those from other works.
This is clearly my fault.For many years, I’ve been living a life constantly racing toward deadlines.
In doing so, I let urgency override the standards that I, as a creator, should have upheld.
And I failed to keep them.Above all else, I truly wanted to show the final story of this work to the very end,
So deciding to end it midway is extremely painful.
I feel deeply sorry and again apologetic to the readers.To everyone who supported and believed in me despite my shortcomings,
I sincerely thank you, and once again, bow my head in apology.
ALSO READ:
WEBTOON Entertainment Rebrands and Restructures North American Entertainment and IP Division
You can also read Naver’s full statement below:
Hello, this is Naver Webtoon.
Recently, it was confirmed that the manuscript of the Monday webtoon Wind Breaker showed similarities in composition and structure to another work.
After discussions between the artist and the responsible editor,
it was ultimately decided to suspend the serialization and service of the work.
We are here to inform you of this decision.We sincerely apologize for the disappointment caused to readers and many others.
Naver Webtoon takes the issue of content similarity very seriously
and will continue to do our utmost to protect copyright.
Following the controversy and premature end, Yongseok Jo offered a final note to fans:
“I felt I had to at least give it a proper ending.
The final story of Wind Breaker has reluctantly been uploaded in its original form on my personal blog.
Wind Breaker is a South Korean webtoon created by writer and artist Yongseok Jo. It began serialization on Naver Webtoon in December 2013 and ran for over a decade, being compiled into 26 volumes as of January 2024. An official English translation was released by LINE Webtoon. WEBTOON describes the story:
Jay’s the perfect student. He’s got straight As and he’s the student body president. But after being coerced into joining the school’s biking team, the Hummingbird Crew, he discovers a whole new world outside of studying. What new adventures will he face outside the comfort of his textbooks?
Note that, while both share the same name, this is not the same work as the WIND BREAKER Japanese manga by Satoru Nii. The Japanese manga recently finished airing its 2nd TV anime season and has an upcoming live-action movie.
Source: Never Webon
