News

Naver Webtoon Halts Serialization of Web Novel After Plagiarism Admission

Naver WEBTOON has suspended the serialization of The Warring States: Becoming Qin Shi Huang's Right Hand Man on Munpia, a web novel platform under Naver WEBTOON, after its author admitted to plagiarism, the company confirmed on January 4.

The web novel The Warring States: Becoming Qin Shi Huang's Right Hand Man, which had been serialized on Munpia since August last year, was taken down on January 5. The work had recently come under scrutiny after readers raised concerns that it closely resembled the Chinese web novel Qin Gong in its setting, writing style, and narrative structure.

Naver WEBTOON told Korean news outlet Newsis that the author, who writes under the pen name “5percent,” acknowledged that the series was published without securing a formal license or usage rights to the Chinese original. The platform said it became aware of the copyright infringement through the publisher supplying the work and has begun post-removal measures, including full refunds for readers.

KW Books, the publisher responsible for the novel's distribution, stated in a notice on Munpia that it had only recently become aware of the issue and is reviewing internal follow-up actions, including service termination and full refunds. The company added that it would cooperate fully with platform policies and apologized to affected readers.

Munpia also issued an apology, saying it would proceed with full purchase cancellations and permanently end the service for the title. The platform added that it plans to impose sanctions on the author in accordance with its operating guidelines, including restrictions on future writing activities.

Source: Newsis (Jung-min Yoon)