So Newtoki, which was basically Korea’s biggest piracy hub for webtoons and web novels, shut down for good on the 27th. The operators put up a notice saying all the stolen content is gone and they’re not coming back. They also warned people that any site popping up with a similar name is a fake and has nothing to do with them.
The site got big after Bamtoki closed in 2018, then spun off Manatoki for manga and Booktoki for novels. At its peak, it was pulling in around 126 million visits a month. Industry folks think it cost the webtoon industry at least 39.8 billion won in losses by 2024, and honestly the real number is probably way higher. No one knows for sure why they suddenly pulled the plug, though some reports say the person running it got Japanese citizenship back in 2022 to dodge investigations.
RIP. I learned Korean because newtoki provided me with fast update of my favorite manhwa. With batoto and newtoki gone, I hope new sites are reborn. Or else I'll have to branch and find sites in Chinese or Japanese 😔