Irene Lustrissimi, South Korean Soft Power Between Webtoon and Webnovel: the Solo Leveling Case - p. 109
In recent years, South Korea has consolidated its soft power through new forms of digital popular culture, particularly webnovels and webtoons. These formats, distributed via platforms such as Naver Webtoon and KakaoPage, have taken on a central role within the Hallyu wave, standing alongside K-pop and K-drama as instruments of global cultural influence. This study focuses on Solo Leveling as a paradigmatic case, aiming to analyze how its evolution from webnovel to webtoon, anime, and finally video game represents an effective manifestation of South Korean soft power. The analysis highlights transmedia strategies, localization processes, and the role of fan communities. Solo Leveling, originally a webnovel by Ch’ugong published on KakaoPage (2016–2018), was adapted into a webtoon by DUBU (2018–2021), an anime (2024), and a video game (Solo Leveling: ARISE, 2024), becoming a global transmedia phenomenon. Its ability to move across different media underscores its strategic value in terms of OSMU (One Source Multi-Use), a model typical of the South Korean cultural industry. The work’s success has been strengthened by the effectiveness of digital distribution platforms and by the active participation of fan communities, which have contributed to its international popularity through fan translations, fan art, and fan fiction, enhancing its global virality. The analysis adopts a qualitative cultural and media-oriented approach, examining the production and distribution stages of Solo Leveling, its transmedia transformations, international reception data, and online fan engagement dynamics. Particular attention is given to localization strategies in different markets and to editorial examples from Europe and the United States. The Solo Leveling case demonstrates how webnovels and webtoons have become strategic tools of soft power and cultural diplomacy, contributing to redefining South Korea’s international role as a hybrid and innovative cultural powerhouse.
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