April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Kakao has joined forces with major talent agency YG Entertainment to tap deeper into the online comic market in Japan, industry sources said on July 30.

Although the two firms have not signed official tie-up deals, the collaboration is drawing attention from industry watchers as Naver, Korea’s top Internet portal operator and Kakao’s rival, is the second-largest stakeholder in YG Entertainment.

According to the sources, Piccoma, Kakao’s online comic platform in Japan, recently started to publish an online comic series, which is titled “Go Blings” and features globally popular Korean boy band Big Bang.

Piccoma has been staging a massive publicity blitz for the 12-episode comic series, timed to coincide with member Seungri’s first concert tour in Japan in August.

In June this year, the online comic platform used the songs of YG-affiliated boy band Winner and singer ikon as the background music for its two new online comics, known as webtoon in Korea.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)