Webtoon Wind Breaker Canceled Due to Confirmed Plagiarism
The Webtoon Wind Breaker, created by Yongseok Jo, has been officially canceled after confirmed cases of plagiarism. The announcement was made by both Naver Webtoon and the author, stating that parts of the webtoon were found to be too similar—or nearly identical—to scenes and compositions from other existing works.
Why the Webtoon Wind Breaker was canceled
According to Naver Webtoon, an internal review revealed that the Webtoon Wind Breaker manuscript included visual and structural elements that were excessively similar to other published content. Following discussions with the author, the platform decided to end serialization and suspend all related services.
Yongseok Jo issued a personal apology, fully admitting the issue. “Among the reference materials I used, some scenes ended up being very similar or almost identical in expression to those from other works. This is clearly my fault,” he stated.
He also explained how constant deadline pressure impacted his creative judgment. “For many years, I’ve been racing against deadlines. In doing so, I let urgency override the standards I should have upheld as a creator. And I failed to maintain them.”
Jo expressed deep regret about not being able to finish the series as intended. “Above all, I truly wanted to show the ending of this story. So deciding to end it midway is extremely painful.” He thanked the readers who supported him despite his shortcomings.
Naver Webtoon released an official statement: “It was confirmed that the manuscript of Webtoon Wind Breaker showed similarities in composition and structure to another work. After discussions between the artist and the editor in charge, we decided to suspend the serialization and all related services. We sincerely apologize for the disappointment caused to our readers.”
The company also reiterated its commitment to protecting copyright and treating content similarity issues seriously.
Despite the early termination of the series, Yongseok Jo left a final message to his fans: “I felt I had to at least give it a proper ending. The final story of Webtoon Wind Breaker has been uploaded in its original form on my personal blog.”
via Naver Webtoon
