Company assures “refunds will be processed upon customer request after service termination”
© WEBTOON Entertainment
Naver WEBTOON has begun processing refund requests for paid episodes of Yongseok Jo’s Wind Breaker webtoon (not to be confused with Satoru Nii‘s manga of the same name), following the title’s recent suspension over plagiarism allegations.
On July 14, Naver WEBTOON confirmed that its customer service center is currently accepting refund inquiries from users who purchased episodes of the long-running sports webtoon. The company stated it will issue refunds upon request in light of the title’s removal.
The series came under fire in late June when readers noted striking similarities between scenes in recent episodes and panels from Japanese manga such as Tokyo Ghoul. Jo cited years of weekly deadlines as a reason for compromising creative standards and expressed deep regret to readers. While the series will no longer continue, the creator shared highlights of the intended ending and accompanying commentary on his personal blog. Jo’s apology and message about the series being discontinued is now available in English on WEBTOON.
Naver WEBTOON also confirmed the similarity between Wind Breaker and other works in terms of composition and direction, stating that it had decided to end both serialization and service of the title.
Readers who used in-app currency (cookies) to unlock the most recent chapters or who purchased permanent copies via Naver Series have been requesting refunds. The company assured that “refunds will be processed upon customer request after service termination.”
ANN reached out to WEBTOON‘s global division about possible refunds for the English version of Wind Breaker, but the company did reply as of press time.
Debuting in 2013, Wind Breaker followed a high school student’s journey into competitive cycling and became one of Naver WEBTOON‘s longest-running and most popular series, with translations in English, Japanese, and Chinese.
The English version of Wind Breaker is available on WEBTOON, but the service states the series “will soon be unavailable on the platform.”
Source: News 1 (Eun-bin Shin)
Dil Nawaz — a writer who breathes life into emotions through words. I find beauty in silence, meaning in longing, and stories in every heartbeat. Writing for me isn’t just passion; it’s a way to connect souls, one feeling at a time.