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Webtoon Raw: Where to Read Korean Webtoon Raws Officially

By Cat · Updated:
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Looking for a webtoon raw? A raw is the Korean chapter as it was first published, before anyone translates it. This guide covers where Korean webtoon raws officially come out, how to find your series when you only know its English title, how free and paid episodes work, and how to read the raw in English, French, Arabic or your own language as soon as it's out.

Table of contents

What is a webtoon raw?

A webtoon is a Korean comic made to be read by scrolling down on a phone, in one long vertical strip. A webtoon raw is that strip in its original form: Korean text in the speech bubbles, no translation, no scanlation credits.

People also say "raw webtoon", "toon raw" or "webtoon manhwa raw". They all mean the same thing. Manhwa is the Korean word for comics, and most manhwa today are published as webtoons, so a manhwa raw and a webtoon raw usually come from the same places.

The official raws are on the Korean platforms where the creator publishes each chapter first, so that's where you want to read them.

Why are webtoon raws ahead of the translation?

Because every translation starts from the raw. The Korean chapter comes out, and only then can someone translate it and letter it into another language.

A few things make the gap bigger:

  • Weekly updates. Most series on Naver Webtoon and KakaoPage update every week, so the Korean version keeps moving while the translation catches up.
  • Many series are never licensed. A lot of webtoons, especially romance and adult titles on Korean pay platforms, never get an official English release.
  • Fan translations stall. Groups fall behind or drop series. And Webtoons.com shut down its fan translation service in September 2025, so that free option is gone.
  • Your language may not be covered at all. If you read in French or Arabic, an English translation still isn't the one you want.

Where do Korean webtoon raws come out?

Korean webtoons debut on a handful of big platforms. These are the two that carry the most webtoon raws. For the full list of Korean platforms, plus Chinese and Japanese raws, see our manhwa raw sites guide.

Naver is the biggest one. Most Korean webtoons debut on comic.naver.com, with free daily series. Naver Series carries completed and premium titles.

You can browse the Korean site in any browser from outside Korea, and the free chapters need no special account. Naver works with the OpenToon importer out of the box.

WEBTOON (webtoons.com and the app) is Naver's global service. It has official editions in English, Spanish, French, German, Thai and Indonesian. If your series is in WEBTOON's main catalog (not Canvas), it's licensed. For a Korean series, the raw is usually the Korean original on Naver.

Kakao Webtoon and KakaoPage

Kakao is Naver's biggest rival, and a lot of action, romance and isekai webtoons land on KakaoPage or Kakao Webtoon first. Series usually run on a wait-or-pay model, so the newest chapters cost a little to read early.

You'll want a Kakao account, and overseas access is a bit fiddly. To buy chapters from outside Korea, you top up credits in the KakaoPage mobile app, then buy chapters on the KakaoPage website. No Korean phone number needed. Our KakaoPage buying guide walks through every step.

Other Korean webtoon platforms

Ridibooks, Lezhin KR and Bomtoon also publish Korean webtoons, mostly BL, romance, drama and mature titles. They're covered in the manhwa raw sites guide, and our raw websites page links to Ridibooks and Bomtoon.

How do you find the Korean title of a webtoon?

You know the series by its English title, but the Korean platforms list it under its Korean name, and searching in English rarely works.

  1. Look up the original title. The series' fan wiki or the credits page of the translation you were reading often lists the Korean title.
  2. Copy the Korean title and paste it into the search bar on Naver Webtoon or KakaoPage.
  3. Use your browser's translate feature to find your way around. On Chrome desktop, click the 3 dots in the top right corner, then "Translate...". That's enough to read the menus and the episode list.
  4. Find the next chapter. Open the chapter after the last one you read. Check the first few panels against what you remember to make sure it's the right chapter.
  5. Copy the chapter URL from the address bar. That's all you need to read it translated.

Not sure which platform your series is on? Search the Korean title on Naver first, then Kakao, then the others.

Are webtoon raws free?

Some are, and some are paid. On the official Korean platforms, you'll usually see a mix of:

  • Free chapters. Naver has free daily series, and most platforms give you the first chapters of a series free.
  • Wait-until-free. A free unlock on a timer. Wait it out, or pay to skip the wait. This is the wait-or-pay model Kakao uses.
  • Paid chapters. You top up the platform's credits or coins and spend them on chapters.

The newest chapters are often the paid ones, and older chapters can get cheaper or go free over time.

If a chapter is paid, unlock it on the platform first, then translate it.

What about "webtoon scan raw" sites?

If you've searched "webtoon scan raw", you've seen the unofficial sites that re-host Korean chapters. They copy the chapters from the official platforms without permission.

They're a bad bet:

  • They go down all the time. Domains get pulled, and the mirror you end up on may not have the latest chapter.
  • The creators don't get paid. The artist and the platform see nothing from those views.
  • They're where the sketchy ads live. If every newest chapter is free, with no account and pop-ups pushing downloads, the site is making its money some other way.

The official platforms are legal and they stay put. They also get every chapter first, which is why this guide sticks to them.

Where do you find adult webtoon raws?

Adult (19+) webtoons run on the same official Korean platforms, just behind an age check. Bomtoon, Ridibooks and Lezhin KR are the names readers point each other to. Our adult manhwa raw guide covers where they're published and how overseas readers get through the 19+ verification on Bomtoon and Ridibooks.

How do you read a webtoon raw in your language?

So you've found the chapter, and it's in Korean. You can learn Korean, point the Google Translate camera at every panel one bubble at a time, or translate the whole chapter in one go.

OpenToon does the last one. It's a mobile app for iOS and Android.

  1. Open the raw chapter on the official platform. Naver Webtoon, Kakao Webtoon, KakaoPage or another Korean site.
  2. Copy the chapter URL and paste it into OpenToon. If you saved screenshots or images of the chapter instead, you can import those.
  3. Pick your language. English, French, Arabic, Spanish, Indonesian or any of 50+ others.
  4. Read. Most chapters are ready in a couple of minutes.

Here's what happens to the chapter:

  • It handles the whole vertical strip. A webtoon chapter is usually a few very tall images or dozens of thin slices. Pasting the URL pulls in the whole chapter, so a speech bubble split across two slices isn't cut in half the way it would be with screenshots.
  • OCR reads the Korean text out of every speech bubble, including small bubbles scattered across a tall image.
  • Comic-tuned AI translates each bubble in context, so names, tone and jokes hold up better than word-by-word machine translation.
  • Inpainting cleans the panel. Webtoons are in full colour, with bubbles on gradients and busy backgrounds. OpenToon removes the Korean text and redraws the background, so the translation sits on clean art.
  • You read it top to bottom in a vertical scroll reader, the way the webtoon was made. Tap any bubble to see the original Korean.
  • Unlimited translations. One subscription, no per-chapter fees, which matters when a new chapter drops every week.

Nothing gets re-hosted or re-uploaded. OpenToon is a translation layer on a chapter you already have access to, and the creator still gets paid on the platform where you read it. The chapter is saved to your library on your device, so you can re-read it without translating it again.

The full walkthrough is in how to translate webtoons to English. The same steps work for any other target language.

FAQ

Where can I read webtoon raws officially? Most Korean webtoon raws come out on Naver Webtoon (comic.naver.com) and on KakaoPage or Kakao Webtoon. Ridibooks, Lezhin KR and Bomtoon carry many BL, romance and mature titles. The manhwa raw sites guide covers all of them.

What does "webtoon raw" mean? A webtoon raw is a Korean webtoon chapter in its original language, with no translation. It's published on the Korean platform first, which is why the raw is ahead of the English or other translations.

Are webtoon raws free? Naver has free daily series, and most platforms give you the first chapters of a series free. On Kakao, the newest chapters are usually wait-until-free or paid.

How do I read a Korean webtoon raw in English or French? Open the chapter on the official Korean platform, copy the chapter URL and paste it into OpenToon on your phone. It translates every speech bubble into English, French, Arabic or 50+ other languages and gives you the chapter back in a vertical scroll reader.

Is it legal to read webtoon raws? Reading raws on official platforms like Naver and Kakao is legal, because you read straight from the publisher. Unofficial "scan raw" sites re-host chapters without permission and don't pay the creators.

To summarize

  • Naver Webtoon (comic.naver.com). Where most Korean webtoons debut. Free daily series, works in the OpenToon importer.
  • KakaoPage / Kakao Webtoon. Action, romance and isekai hits. Kakao account, wait-or-pay.
  • Ridibooks, Lezhin KR, Bomtoon. BL, romance, drama and mature titles. See the manhwa raw sites guide.
  • Adult webtoon raws. See the adult manhwa raw guide.
  • Reading the raw in your language. Paste the chapter URL into OpenToon and pick your language.

Here's the full list of raw websites.