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A Month of Experiencing Korean Webtoons Firsthand
The Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles (KCCLA) is hosting the “2026 K-Comics Origin Los Angeles: Korean Webtoon Experience Exhibition” from September 11 to October 17. Running for about a month on the center’s second floor, the exhibition is open to the public without any admission fee or prior reservation. It offers a rare space where Korean webtoons step off the digital screen to meet international audiences through physical displays in a local cultural institution.
The exhibit traces the 100-year history of Korean comics, showing how they evolved into today’s webtoons and how webtoon intellectual property expands into other forms of media. Rather than framing webtoons, which grew popular through online serialization, simply as digital comics to be read on a screen, the exhibition presents them as the narrative starting point that can blossom into films, dramas, animations, games, and character merchandise.
Content Expansion Through Three Iconic Works
The exhibition highlights three flagship titles: All of Us Are Dead (Joo Dong-geun), Solo Leveling, and Omniscient Reader. These three works are prime examples of how a story born as a webtoon has the potential to expand into films, TV series, animations, games, and more. Visitors can experience firsthand how the narratives and characters of each series leap from the original digital canvas into entirely new creative realms.
Featuring these three works together vividly illustrates the exhibition’s core theme: Korean webtoons have grown far beyond stories read online, transforming into global intellectual properties. Each piece used its original plot and characters as a springboard to reach new mediums and build international fandoms. That starting point matters: a single narrative can branch into many different forms of entertainment.
Opening Day Conversation with Creator Joo Dong-geun
On opening day, September 11 at 6:30 PM, the center will host a special talk featuring Joo Dong-geun, the creator of All of Us Are Dead. This event gives attendees the chance to meet the original author in person and hear behind-the-scenes stories about his work and the webtoon creation process. While the exhibition itself displays the finished products, the guest author program sheds light on the creative journey a webtoon takes to reach its readers and ultimately expand into other media.
All of Us Are Dead is a standout piece that perfectly captures the exhibition’s focus on the expansion of webtoon IP. Scheduling the creator talk on opening day does more than just celebrate global success; it brings the focus back to the starting line, reminding us that it all begins with the artist and the original comic. For international visitors, it offers a meaningful opportunity to connect the stories they’ve encountered on screen back to their original roots in Korean webtoons.
From Online Platforms to Spaces of Cultural Diplomacy
Webtoons thrived as content designed for the internet and mobile platforms. Readers can catch up on new chapters without ever buying a physical book, and digital distribution allows these stories to effortlessly cross borders and reach a global audience. The LA exhibition takes this digital-first medium and places it in a physical space, turning stories that were once read alone on personal screens into a shared cultural experience for a broader audience.
It is also highly meaningful that an overseas Korean Cultural Center chose webtoons as its exhibition theme. The center is a public cultural hub where local audiences engage with Korean media. Showcasing the history of Korean comics, iconic webtoon titles, and the evolution of their intellectual property in such a venue proves that webtoons have evolved past being mere platform products and become a vital medium for cultural exchange that defines Korea’s contemporary storytelling industry.
The exhibition runs Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and Saturdays from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. It is closed on Sundays and public holidays, and schedules may vary on dates designated as closed by the center. Lasting just over a month, this event provides locals in LA with a front-row seat to observe how Korean comics evolved into webtoons, and how those webtoons are now branching out into video, gaming, physical exhibitions, and international cultural exchange.
Source: Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles Announcement.
