The Korean webtoon art form began to appear and spread in the early 2000s along with the rise of the internet and the Hallyu wave. Webtoons developed and separated from traditional comics and Japanese manga to become a form of art specific to Korean culture, expressing its values. Korean webtoons often combine elements of Korean folklore, popular philosophy, and modern social issues in fast-paced stories that are appealing to readers and easy to access. A webtoon blends text and illustration, making it suitable for those who get bored with reading and providing a light and different experience for reading lovers.
To introduce Korean culture fans in other countries to the essence of this art and its most important works, Korean Cultural Centers in various countries organized webtoon exhibitions where visitors can explore selected works in depth. The Korean Cultural Center in Egypt organized a special exhibition for the Hellbound webtoon by writer Choi Gyu Seok and director Yeon Sang Ho. The exhibition lasted throughout July, and a full hall in the center was dedicated to it. The event also included hosting the writer, contests, and workshops organized by the center. Luckily, I won a contest on social media and got an original Korean copy of the first volume of the webtoon.
In this article, I will share my experience reading and analyzing the webtoon.

The story of the webtoon revolves around two supernatural phenomena: the notification and the execution. When a person receives a notification that they will go to hell, messengers of hell appear to carry out the sentence in public. This phenomenon is interpreted as divine judgment, leading to the formation of a new social system and groups enforcing this idea on society.
I was intrigued by the story when I first learned about it after its adaptation into a Netflix series, but I delayed reading and watching it. So when I received the webtoon copy, I became excited again and started reading it immediately.

The main characters in the first volume are Jeong Jin Soo, the leader of a new cult that preaches acceptance of these supernatural events as warnings from God due to people’s sins and arrogance; Jin Kyung Hun, a police detective who gets involved with this cult along with his son; and Min Hye Jin, a lawyer who tries to fight this cult and protect those receiving the hell notification.
The deeper I got into the webtoon, the more its realism stood out to me. Despite its fictional idea and supernatural creatures, it feels more realistic than many other artistic works.

This realism is achieved through the well-crafted dialogues and deeply developed characters. Cult leader Jin Soo is a morally gray character with complex dimensions. He is calm and always seeks to help the oppressed and needy, even at his own expense. He respects his followers and tries to help them avoid actions that would send them to hell. Yet, his rules are vague, and his kindness doesn’t excuse the cruelty of the hell notifications and the randomness of the selections. He hides facts proving that the notifications are random and not based on sin, falsifying the backgrounds of those killed by the creatures to convince people they deserved it.
As the story progresses, we learn that Jin Soo himself received a hell notification twenty years ago and doesn’t have much time left. You wonder why he chose to spread this belief instead of resisting it, but human nature is complicated and always seeks meaning. Knowing he couldn’t escape his fate, he tried to give meaning to this phenomenon and prevent others from facing the same destiny, even though he knows better than anyone how random it is and how pointless it is to try to please these entities.

This idea is further reinforced through another character in the second volume, a former member of an extremist group that worships the phenomenon. He also receives a notification and falls into shock, losing all purpose in life. He collaborates with the lawyer to protect anti-cult activists and a newborn baby who received a hell notification on the day of his birth.
However, the cult convinces him that his hell sentence is meant to save the baby, making him the savior of the world and their sect. He eventually believes them and rejoins their side. This isn’t surprising, as similar things often happen in real life. While we may find it strange, putting ourselves in his mind and circumstances might lead us to make the same choices.

Resistance in the webtoon is represented by the lawyer and the detective. The lawyer symbolizes thinkers and truth-seekers in society. From the beginning, she neither denied the phenomenon like some people nor supported it, but rather tried to investigate it and help those who received notifications. When she failed to protect her client and realized the phenomenon was real, she didn’t submit to these entities like most people. She continued resisting, helping victims’ families by hiding the truth about their deaths to shield them from societal stigma. Throughout volume one, we saw her character development, trauma, and attempts by cult extremists to kill her. Volume two focused more on what came after society accepted the phenomenon and the emergence of new, complex sects.

Volume two explored the internal struggles within the cult between extremists and those trying to appear diplomatic to gain political and social influence. Even though they share the same beliefs, their personal interests lead them to oppose one another. The story never explains the phenomenon itself or its cause, but I think this was the right choice. The story isn’t a typical mystery or horror tale; the writer focuses on society’s reaction to the unknown, how extremism shapes people, and how it stops them from thinking.

The detective is portrayed as an ordinary, good citizen trying to do his job and keep his life peaceful. But circumstances force him into a moral dilemma when his son joins the cult, he must fight as a policeman. Despite protecting his son, he tries to ease his conscience by joining the resistance and helping the lawyer protect the families of those condemned to hell. He represents an average peaceful person who tries to avoid problems but ends up facing them. At first, the phenomenon seemed to benefit him because it allowed him to take revenge on his wife’s killer, who was released from prison. Yet, he didn’t blindly follow any group and tried to think for himself, as confrontation and choice are inevitable even if we try to avoid problems.
The only flaw I noticed was how the detective’s role was diminished in volume two. We didn’t see his character development or how he joined the resistance, creating a gap in the narrative since his character is essential to the story’s theme.

The ending offered hope and a message about holding on to humanity despite societal pressure to believe something is right. The baby condemned to hell survived thanks to his parents’ sacrifice, and the lawyer took him to protect him.
Although the dialogue and events were relatively short compared to novels, the webtoon offered a rich reading experience and remains memorable long after finishing it. Newcomers to webtoons should approach it with an open mind, paying attention to the detailed artwork and carefully chosen scenes that deliver its message smoothly. It feels like a mix of literature and cinema.

We cannot separate imagination from reality, and we often create and believe false narratives out of fear of our inability to understand and confront the truth. Art’s core role has always been to express the human condition, push us to think, and confront our reality.

Keywords:
Hellbound, Korean Cultural Center in Egypt, webtoon, Choi Gyu Seok, Korea Net, Republic of Korea