'Low-Orbit Human' and 4 Other Works Named Best of the Year… Award-Winning Masterpieces Take Home 7 Million Won Each

Accomplished works offer sharp portraits of the times and open new horizons for the webtoon industry

The five winners of this year's Today's Our Manhwa, one of the country's three most prestigious comic awards, have been revealed. The Korea Cartoonists Association and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that the final selections for the 2024 Today's Our Manhwa awards are Strange Tales, Osaka Fantasy Line, Low-Orbit Human, Journey of Iron and Ice and Tyranno Noh Kyung-soo.

The selection committee, made up of experts from the creative and industry sectors as well as reader representatives, rigorously evaluated 15 finalist works beginning in May. All five winners were serialized on Naver Webtoon, once again demonstrating the platform's overwhelming influence in South Korea's webtoon industry.

In a statement on the judging, committee chair Hong Nan-ji described the five selected works as “accomplished works that, despite their distinct genre characteristics, sharply capture the facets of the era we live in and the concerns of our time.” Each winning creator will receive a Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award and 7 million won.

In addition, Low-Orbit Human, by Cho Eun-young, was selected to receive the Korea Cartoonists Association President's Award, giving the work a second reason to celebrate after it was named among the 15 finalists. Five works also received special mentions from the selection committee: The Greatest Magician, Donuts and Circus, To the Second Child, Ignition and Song Yi-yeon: 50 Years Old, One Month Divorced. Their recognition points to a bright future for Korean comics.

Established in 1999, Today's Our Manhwa is a prestigious annual award that honors works that best represent the current state and future potential of Korean comics and webtoons. Alongside the Bucheon Comic Awards and the Korea Content Awards, it is firmly established as one of the country's three leading comic awards. This year's ceremony is set to take place during the Manhwa Day celebration on Nov. 3.