The Naver Corporation has released the surprise final chapter of its popular bycycle manhwa, Wind Breakernot to be confused with the Japanese martial arts manga of the same name. Naver confirmed that the comic has been canceled due to accusations of tracing and plagiarism. Author Jo Yong-seok confirmed the series cancellation with a message, apologizing to anyone distressed by the allegations and admitting to not being able to keep up with deadlines. Naver, who own and operates Webtoon, also shared a message describing an internal investigation into the manner and concluded that Wind Breaker showed “similarities in composition and structure to another work.”
Jo Yong-seok’s Wind Breaker stars a rookie bicyclist, who competes in an event called the League of Streets, with a team of other bicyclists. The series was one of its most-read sports manhwa on Webtoon, having run for nearly 12 years, with its first chapter published in December 2013. The series has released 26 volumes and has been translated into English by Naver’s Line Webtoon. Yong-seok, who expressed sadness that his series wouldn’t get a proper conclusion, shared the manuscript for the rest of the series on his blog for fans to read.
Wind Breaker Author’s and Webtoon’s Official Statement
Jo Yong-seok and the Naver Company have released their messages attached to the final chapter of Wind Breaker on Naver Webtoon. Fans have translated the messages from Korean into English, but there hasn’t been any official English statement on Wind Breaker‘s cancellation.
Jo Yong-seok’s Statement
Hello, this is Jo Yong-seok.
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 apologize to the readers.
To everyone who supported and believed in me despite my shortcomings, I sincerely thank you, and once again, I bow my head in apology.
The Naver Corporation’s Official Statement
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.
It’s unknown how the series cancellation will affect the English translation on Webtoon Line. While tracing and plagiarism are serious accusations, some manhwa fans discuss the complexity of Yong-seok on forums like Reddit. Keeping up a consistent deadline and releasing new chapters is an incredibly harsh burden, adding severe stress to authors. Many authors crack under the pressure of reaching deadlines. Nonetheless, Naver felt that Yong-seok crossed the line from artwork referencing to straight-up plagiarism, believing the appropriate step was to cancel Wind Breaker.
H/T: Naver Webtoon (In Korean)
