Highest figure since tracking began; webtoon 'Eleceed' tops deletion list
Lawmaker Jeong Jun-ho calls for stronger international investigative cooperation
Illegal overseas distribution of Korean content surpassed 490 million cases last year, setting a record high since tracking began.
According to data on overseas copyright infringement by content type submitted to Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Jeong Jun-ho of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee by the Korea Copyright Protection Agency, illegal overseas distribution of K-content reached 493.55 million cases in 2025 — the highest figure since the agency began its survey in 2022. The figure represents a 19.2 percent increase from 414.1 million cases in 2024.
By category, webtoons accounted for 328.21 million cases, or 66.5 percent of the total, while video content — films and broadcast programs — made up 165.34 million cases, or 33.5 percent. Video piracy in particular jumped 40.6 percent from the previous year's 117.59 million cases.
English was the most common language of distribution, at 229.97 million cases, or 46.6 percent of the total. However, the share of English-language piracy fell 17 percentage points from 63.6 percent, or 263.51 million cases, in 2024, while Southeast Asian languages — Vietnamese, Thai and Indonesian — and European languages — Spanish, French and Portuguese — grew in share. Southeast Asian-language piracy more than tripled in three years, rising from 5 percent, or 24.09 million cases, in 2022 to 15.7 percent, or 77.65 million cases, in 2025. European-language piracy grew 2.7 times over the same period, from 2.9 percent, or 13.86 million cases, to 7.6 percent, or 37.69 million cases.
Looking at illegal posts removed by title across eight language zones — from when the agency built its language-specific infringement monitoring system in 2024 through August this year — the webtoon "Eleceed" ranked first in six language zones: English, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Spanish, French and Portuguese. It placed in the top five across all eight language zones, with 27,063 posts removed. "Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint" ranked second in six language zones, excluding Chinese and Spanish, with 19,280 posts removed.
"Jinx" topped the Chinese-language zone, while "Solo Leveling: Ragnarok" led in the Thai-language zone. "Waterside Night," "Return of the Blossoming Blade" and "The Greatest Estate Developer" also ranked among the most-pirated titles.
Among video content, the variety show "Running Man" ranked first in five language zones — English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and Indonesian. In the Chinese-language zone alone, 18,481 posts were removed, the highest count for any single title in a single language zone across the entire ranking. "Knowing Bros" and "My Little Old Boy" also ranked highly, in five and four language zones, respectively.
Among drama series, "Crash Course in Romance," "Dr. Romantic," "Cinderella Game" and "The Penthouse" were among the top-ranked titles.
The number of illegal overseas posts removed by the agency rose 32 percent, from 184,025 in 2022 to 243,374 in 2025, and 194,565 posts had been removed through August this year. Yet the volume of illegal distribution over the same period hovered around 400 million cases annually, meaning removals amounted to just 0.05 percent of total piracy.
The scale of financial damage has not even been calculated. The agency said estimating losses was difficult because infringement channels vary by category and characteristics differ depending on unit price, genre, platform and release timing.
"The map of illegal distribution is changing rapidly, with the English-language share shrinking while Southeast Asian and European languages are surging," Jeong said. "We need to expand local-language monitoring staff for emerging language zones and strengthen international cooperation with overseas law enforcement agencies targeting operators of illegal sites."
pink@heraldcorp.com
