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By Lee Kyung-min
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| Capture from Kim Ja-yeon's Instagram |
The writers angered their readers with statements such as "You insignificant readers do not matter, so know thyself."
On Monday, thousands of subscribers to the webtoon site called for a full refund of subscription fees. They also threatened a boycott of other webtoon content created and provided by the operator.
The dispute came a week after a leading game maker Nexon dismissed a female voice actress Kim Ja-yeon, 28, last Tuesday, for sharing a photo a day earlier of her wearing a T-shirt that said "GIRLS Do Not Need A PRINCE," made by Megalian, an online community with some radical feminist members.
The proceeds from selling the shirt go to help the group prepare for a civil lawsuit against Facebook, which the group claimed has unfairly shut down its account on three occasions citing "company terms," which ban individuals or groups advocating hate toward a particular minority group from using their service.
Before dismissal, Kim refused to apologize or acknowledge that her siding with the group was a wrong choice saying, "I do not particularly have a negative impression about Megalian, and its work. I will support whomever I think is right, and I am willing to deal with the repercussion if my choice is considered wrong," a remark supported by some Lezhin writers who posted comments in support of Kim and the group.
However, their move drew a strong backlash from subscribers, who took offense at defending Megalian which they deemed was a "radicalized group that engages in divisive hate speech," followed by their collective move to cancel subscriptions.
In response, one of the writers posted a Twitter message, "So, does this mean that you are not going to read my comics?" a comment taken by the readers as offensive.
Other writers joined him in deriding the readers, with some of them saying, "The readers should be quiet because they did nothing to contribute to the flourishing of the online webtoon market, which came to the current successful fruition due to constant struggles by the writers, not by the readers."
"Should the webtoon industry suffer a setback, it is because of the readers' inability to appreciate our work, not because of the content creators," he added.
Some even sarcastically questioned the readers' critical thinking ability saying, "How could you be impressed by my work, when it seems apparent that you are incapable of reading and thinking? Oh, maybe the colors of my drawings were beautiful for you," one writer wrote.
"The world does not come to an end if a few of you die, and the webtoon industry is not doomed if a few of you leave us. Please stop being self-important," another wrote.
In response, one reader said he does not wish to support the writers with such a derisive and scornful attitude against the readers.
"I no longer want to remain an avid comics reader anymore. Not with this level of disrespect against the readers as a whole," he said.
