Korean artist Yaongyi, famous for creating the worldwide hit True Beauty, has won a major legal battle against South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS). The event occurred following a decision by the Tax Tribunal in June of this year, 2026, which overturned a multi-million value-added tax assessment imposed on the author. This victory ends a controversy that gained the spotlight last year and returns overpaid amounts to the creator from the second half of 2018 to mid-2022.
The core of the dispute was the classification of the popular webtoon for tax purposes. During an audit in 2023, the South Korean tax authority argued that Yaongyi’s contract with Naver WEBTOON, the platform that publishes the series, was a “copyright license service” and therefore taxable. However, the artist’s defense managed to prove that the work qualified as an electronic publication, a category that is tax-exempt in the country. Thus, the court applied the guidelines of the Ministry of Culture, which define tax-exempt publications as works issued by a registered publisher, a condition that Yaongyi’s company met during serialization.
Repercussions and Future of the Franchise
Despite the legal victory, Yaongyi has publicly committed to continuing to faithfully fulfill her tax obligations as a citizen. Amid last year’s controversy, she acknowledged some accounting errors but always denied any intention of tax evasion. Her husband, fellow webtoon creator Jeon Sun-wook, reinforced at the time that there was no bad faith on the part of the couple. Meanwhile, the True Beauty universe continues to expand beyond digital comics.
The first season of the animation based on the webtoon has been available on Crunchyroll since September 2024, with a second season confirmed and also scheduled for streaming on the same service. Additionally, a two-part Japanese live-action adaptation premiered in March and May of last year. Therefore, the saga of protagonist Jugyeong continues to captivate fans around the globe through different media, now with the creator free from this major financial and administrative concern.
