f Webtoons to promote critical thinking in neo-liberal South Korea: A thematic analysis of Awl social justice themes

This article explores the use of South Korean webtoons, Songkot (meaning Awl), for informal adult learning through visual narratives and audience comments in the social, historic and academic context. Drawing on Newman’s critical thinking and Giroux’s critical public pedagogy, the study explicates how the Awl creates a discursive space for an unpublicized theme, unionization, through its narrative structures and audience discussion. The findings imply that Awl’s major themes – critical thinking, empathy and social action – create informal adult learning opportunities for the public by increasing their conscious awareness of institutionalized oppressions. Awl also has the potential to promote critical thinking about commonly unvoiced issues of social justice in neo-liberal South Korea.