Web novels in South Korea (Korean: 웹소설; Hanja: 웹小說; RR: Websoseol) have been growing in popularity in the 21st century. Among e-publishing fields, web novels are the core contents that are leading the e-book market. Just as webtoons (online comics) grew in the early 2000s in South Korea, web novels have been growing rapidly since 2010.[1]
The usual definition of a web novel is 'the first novel to be released on the web'. This definition is based on the nature of distinguishing web novels from other content, first of all, the basis for mediating novels with readers, second of which the web releases them for the first time, and lastly has a narrative form. In particular, the Web novel market has begun to receive great attention because the possibility of web novel contents expansion like drama has been confirmed.[2]