Highlights
- WEBTOON is consolidating global leadership under President Yongsoo Kim, eliminating COO and CTO roles.
- New executive roles announced in product, AI, and IP, increasing focus on platform growth and creator management.
- Declining quarterly performance and rising competition from platforms like Manta have pushed WEBTOON to recalibrate global strategy.
WEBTOON Entertainment has announced a series of leadership changes on April 13, aiming to consolidate regional leadership into a unified global command and drive global expansion. The company will integrate global leadership under recently appointed President Yongsoo Kim, eliminating the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) roles in the process.
Under the leadership restructuring, WEBTOON has appointed Leah Goeun Yeon as the company's first Chief Business Officer (CBO). Yeon will oversee WEBTOON's global webcomic platform business, excluding Japan, while overseeing marketing, content, growth, and creator management.
The press release highlighted that Yeon has nearly two decades of experience in growth and marketing with companies including Google and McKinsey. Another newly structured role is Chief Product Officer (CPO), with Yuki Chae being promoted to the position. Chae will oversee WEBTOON’s global product roadmap.
David J. Lee, who continues as Global Chief Financial Officer (CFO), will also serve as President of Wattpad, as the platform deepens its focus on ad-supported content. Teo Taeyeong Jang and Sean Shinhyung Kim took the roles of the Head of AI and Head of IP Business, respectively.
WEBTOON President Yongsoo Kim positioned the restructuring as a bold step towards accelerating the company’s global footprint. “After twenty years of transforming storytelling and entertainment, our full global potential is within reach, and this is a moment where we must evolve and innovate more than ever,” Kim added.
WEBTOON Restructures as a Growth Lever
WEBTOON leadership shake-up follows a fiscal year with mixed financial results. WEBTOON reported full-year 2025 total revenue of $1.4 billion USD, driven by paid content and IP adaptations.
However, in the fourth quarter of 2025, WEBTOON observed a 6.3% revenue drop. Furthermore, the company posted a net loss of $373.4M compared with $152.9M in 2024. The global leadership restructuring, however, is not only due to a revenue drop.
Competing websites like Manta have accelerated their global footprint by offering Japanese manga along with webtoon and manhwa offerings. It also follows that Kim was elevated as President in March 2026, from his previous role as Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global WEBTOON.
Kim has been working with Disney for various webcomics-related initiatives, including bringing a 100 comic titles to Webtoon’s webcomics app. WEBTOON’s leadership overhaul signals a strategic recalibration as the platform seeks to deepen its global footprint and compete in an increasingly crowded digital comic market.
