How desperation drove Piccoma's CEO to propel the webtoon app to No. 1 in Japan

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How desperation drove Piccoma's CEO to propel the webtoon app to No. 1 in Japan

Published: 21 May. 2025, 09:40 Updated: 21 May. 2025, 17:42

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Kakao Piccoma CEO Kim Jae-yong speaks with the JoongAng Ilbo at the Kakao Piccoma headquarters in Tokyo on April 25. [KAKAO PICCOMA]

It started with 200 yen ($1.30). When Kakao launched a paid manga service in Japan called Piccoma, skeptics were quick to dismiss the move. After all, Japan is already the world’s largest comics market, saturated with over 100 competitors — how would Kakao compete?

But on the day of the company’s first transaction in May 2016, equivalent to about 2,000 won ($1.40), Kakao Piccoma CEO Kim Jae-yong recalled he saw “opportunity.”

The company's performance soon soared. In its first year, Piccoma recorded transactions worth 150 million yen. By last year, the figure had topped 105 billion yen, securing the No. 1 spot in the market for the second consecutive year.

How did Kim conquer Japan — the nation of manga?

“Desperation,” he said in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo in Tokyo on April 25. “People have their limits, but when they’re desperate, they go beyond them. When I was young, a big dog once chased me. I was so terrified that I jumped straight onto a trash can as high as an adult’s waist. That wasn’t just my ability — it was desperation,” he laughed. “Being desperate means giving your all.”

A screenshot of manga works available on Kakao Piccoma [KAKAO PICCOMA]

Kim joined Piccoma in May 2015. The day before the interview marked his 10th anniversary of becoming CEO. Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a flew in to present him with a bouquet, a gold ring engraved with Kakao’s beloved character Ryan and a photo album documenting the past decade. Kim, now Kakao’s longest-serving executive, blushed at the gesture.

As a child, Kim was full of questions.

“Fortunately, my mother answered all of them,” he said. “Looking back, I realize how silly I was.”

After graduating from Daeil Foreign Language High School, he studied English literature and business at Kyung Hee University. During every vacation, he packed his bags and traveled abroad with savings from part-time jobs — eventually visiting more than 30 countries.

His first job was with Puma, where he was responsible for marketing and sourcing shoes for footballer Ahn Jung-hwan during the 2002 World Cup match between Korea and Japan. That experience sparked his interest in the Japanese market.

“I thought, ‘I should start a company in Japan,’” he said. But starting a business wasn’t easy.

Then came the email that changed his life — a job listing for a position in Japan. He applied on a whim and got a reply a few days later: “We’re sorry.” His pride was wounded. He turned to a colleague and asked, “What’s a bigger company than this?”

Like fate, that’s when he learned about NHN, a technology company. He applied and joined NHN Japan on Jan. 1, 2006, bringing his entire savings of 3 million won with him. He quickly climbed the corporate ladder, eventually playing a central role in developing Line, Japan’s most popular messaging app.

Then in January 2015, Kim Beom-su — Kakao’s founder — reached out.

Although Kakao had established a Japanese subsidiary in 2011, it hadn’t launched the services it had hoped.

“I wish I had said something cool like ‘I love a new challenge,’ but I just made excuses,” Piccoma CEO Kim recalled with a smile. Three months later, he joined Kakao’s Japanese subsidiary, which at the time had just 16 employees.

Kakao Piccoma CEO Kim Jae-yong, left, and Kakao CEO Chung Shin-a, who flew in to Tokyo to congratulate Kim as Kakao’s now longest-serving executive on April 24. [KAKAO PICCOMA]

In April 2016, Piccoma was launched as a paid service — entering a fiercely competitive market dominated by over 100 platforms like Mecha Comic and Line Manga, many of which had a decade head start.

“People said it was too late. But I saw that digitalization of print manga had barely begun — only about 20 percent. It felt like no one had won that battle yet,” Kim said.

Piccoma launched with about 80 titles, differentiating itself with a “wait-and-read-for-free” model that had proven successful in Korea. Users could read new episodes for free after waiting 24 hours, but some readers opted to pay for immediate access.

Still, resistance from traditional publishers was strong, especially to the idea of breaking up volumes into individual episodes. Kim began visiting publishers directly, reminding them that “manga traditionally ran as serials in magazines — not standalone books.”

Then luck struck. In 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic spurred explosive growth in digital manga. According to the All Japan Magazine and Book Publishers’ and Editors’ Association, the digital comics market grew from 259.3 billion yen in 2019 to 512.2 billion yen projected for 2024. Piccoma’s transactions jumped from 13.4 billion yen in 2019 to 100 billion yen in 2023, and 105 billion yen last year — maintaining the industry lead. Now, Piccoma is preparing to go public in Japan.

Kim describes himself as a “service guy.”

“I don’t grow a company through M&As or by chasing investors,” he said. “I build service structures. If the service works, I trust that the rest follows.

“People sometimes ask what kind of father I want to be,” he added. “I think people tend to say they want to be a friend-like dad. Not me, though. I don’t want to be a friend-like dad. My daughter already has lots of friends. I’m the only one in the world who can be her father. Similarly, I don’t want to be a CEO who’s loved by everyone. I want to be a leader who fulfills the role of CEO.”

Kim’s next goal is to “build an ecosystem,” meaning fostering authors that become the “backbone” of the manga industry, so that it’s not heavily reliant on only popular works. It’s not about simply selling one more book; he’s determined to develop a service that supports the entire industry, even if it takes time.

A set of the comic series “Run, You Slowpoke!,” by the late cartoonist Lee Sang-moo owned by Kakao Piccomo CEO Kim Jae-yong [KAKAO PICCOMA]

From his shelf, Kim pulled out a comic book: “Run, You Slowpoke!” by the late cartoonist Lee Sang-moo, which ran from 1982 to 1988 in the children’s magazine Sonyeon JoongAng.

“It’s a comic I loved as a kid — it features Chary Kim [the rival of the protagonist Dokko Tak]. I can’t remember the name of my elementary school best friend, but I remember every manga character I’ve read. When a manga that I really liked is reprinted, I’m thrilled. A good story is certainly something you can carry in your heart forever.”

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. Have there been any difficulties in operating Piccoma?

A. In the service industry, people often use the term “tapping.” Personally, I don’t like that word. It implies a half-hearted try — just tapping to see if something works and then walking away if it doesn’t. There’s not much sincerity in that. Whether it’s a small or big venture, I believe business should be approached with genuine desperation. Behind every successful service, there’s more than just a lucky strike — there are always tough periods and deep reflection.

Our business ultimately depends on attracting a large user base, building a business model around that and monetizing it. But attracting users is hard, and even if you manage to do that, success is not guaranteed. I still struggle because I want to create something where the value of each creative work is properly recognized.

Presents including a bouquet, a gold ring engraved with Kakao’s beloved character Ryan and a photo album documenting the past decade that Kakao Piccoma CEO Kim Jae-yong was given on his 10th year on the job on April 24. [KAKAO PICCOMA]

What’s your most memorable moment?

Ahead of the release of a new season of Chon Kye-young’s “Love Alarm” (2014-), we rented out a movie theater to screen just one episode a week early. It was barely two minutes long, but people flocked to see it.

This was when “Star Wars” was showing in theaters, and even that wasn’t sold out — but our preview screening was packed. A woman came holding a newborn, and I personally showed her to her seat. Later, I received a postcard from her. She wrote, “During my pregnancy, I was going through a hard time and felt depressed. But the comic made me happy and gave me joy. Thanks to that, my baby was born, and we came to the theater together.” Moments like that — small as they may seem — are incredibly precious.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I usually wake up around 3 a.m. (laughs). I also have an annual ritual I call “negation.” Every December, I make it a rule to revisit everything I’ve done throughout the year and question it. I reassess both my successes and failures, trying to see if my decisions were truly the right ones. Through that process, I often discover blind spots in my past decision-making.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KIM HYUN-YE [[email protected]]