Popular Wind Breaker webtoon canceled over plagiarism scandal

Popular South Korean webtoon series Wind Breaker has been officially canceled after its author admitted to plagiarizing other popular works.

Wind Breaker, not to be confused with the 2024 anime of the same name, is a South Korean webtoon created by Yongseok Jo. It first launched in December 2013 on Webtoon and quickly became one of the platform’s most successful series.

The series has often been praised for its stylish character designs, dynamic storytelling, and balance of high-speed bike racing with emotional slice-of-life moments. However, the 11-year-old web comic was pulled after its author publicly revealed they had copied references for character poses and compositions from other artists without permission. 

Popular South Korean webtoon canceled after 11 years 

The admission came after fans compiled side-by-side comparisons showing identical artwork between Wind Breaker and illustrations from various manga and anime.

In a statement posted to the series’ official page, Jo apologized for his actions, writing: “This was clearly my mistake. For a long time, living a life constantly chasing deadlines week after week, that small negligence led me to fail to uphold the standards I should have maintained as a creator.”

He added, “It pains me deeply to have to make the decision to discontinue it. I am truly sorry, and my heart aches for letting down my readers.”

You can read the full translated apology via a Reddit post below:

Despite the cancellation, Jo posted the final chapters to his personal blog, stating that he felt a responsibility to give fans some form of closure.

Naver Webtoon confirmed that the series will be permanently removed and will not resume in the future. The platform also apologized, promising to strengthen internal checks to prevent similar cases moving forward.

The cancellation marks the end of a decade-spanning global hit. Since its release, Wind Breaker has garnered over 600 million views and amassed 2.3 million subscribers, and has been frequently ranked among the platform’s top sports/action titles.