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Exclusive: Webcomics platform Manta has been building out its catalog over recent months and will next week launch a premium plan.

The new tier, which is priced at $9.99 per month, will launch on February 11. It will offer unlimited access to Manta’s K-content originals and unlock more content from its Gem-based library. Gem is the currency Manta uses to offer additional content to its subscribers.

The South Korean service overhauled its Gem currency last September and has added a significant amount of stories it offers from that point, numbering in the “hundreds across various genres,” according to the company.

Included in the premium plan are 125 monthly GEMs that can be used on series such as The Pizza Delivery Man and Gold Palace, Regas and Lucia.

“We designed the Premium Plan with a core focus on delivering the best value and experience to our users,” said Sungmin Kang, Head of Content and Operations at Manta.

Uncle Samsik takes us back to a pivotal time in South Korea’s history, the chaotic years following the end of the Korean War. Made available through Disney+, this gripping new drama transports viewers to the politically turbulent 1960s, when factions vied for power amid economic struggles.

Song Kang-ho stars as Park Doo-chil, a shrewd businessman known to many as Uncle Samsik. Through Samsik, we’re shown a society plagued by corruption, where ambitious men like him must navigate treacherous alliances to succeed.

It’s in this landscape that Samsik’s path crosses with Kim San, played compellingly by Byun Yo-han. As a bright young economist who studied in America, San has hopes of developing industry to pull his nation from poverty. His vision attracts both opportunity and danger. When Samsik takes the ambitious San under his wing, their partnership sets in motion strategic maneuvers and unexpected consequences that will shape South Korea’s future.

The final 3 episodes of Uncle Samsik are a series of sad events that get more painful by the minute. The show that follows the story of a man determined to create a better Korea for the future generation at one of the most difficult times in Korean history is both a lesson in history and a fictional story to bring to life the horrifying events that occurred in 1959. Known as the April Revolution, students and labor groups took to the streets all over the country after the body of a young boy was found on the coast of Masan, shot for protesting rigged elections. This triggered a series of events on the peninsula, leaving the nation in flames. While the show fictionalizes these events, it feels like you’re stepping back into that world and living through those terrifying moments with the characters of the series. With all that said,...

Song Kang-ho brings depth to his drama debut in Uncle Samsik, showcasing intricate storytelling and acting techniques. Set against the backdrop of a turbulent 1960s Korea, the series explores political power struggles and alliances with a stellar cast. Kang-ho's portrayal of Park Doo-chil reveals vulnerability, mirroring the imperfections of society in a compelling narrative structure.

Best known in the United States for his star turn in Bong Joon-ho's Parasite, actor Song Kang-ho is considered an infallible chungmuro performer in South Korea. In 2024, he took a step away from his usual circuit of award-winning movies to grace the world of K-dramas with Uncle Samsik, which premiered May 16 on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ internationally. Song plays Park Doo-chil, whose moniker of "Uncle Sam-sik" points to his commitment to keeping those in his community well-fed in a time of comparative poverty ("sam-sik" translates to "three meals" in Korean).

Uncle Samsik...

Episodes 8 and 9 of Uncle Samsik are the most confusing of the set-ups to date. As we near the end of the series, Samsik’s complicated plans seem to be getting more convoluted so he can achieve his final goal, a democratic South Korea where everyone has three meals a day. In episodes 6 and 7, we learn about a planned coup d’état, and in the latest episodes, the show gives us a more elaborate picture of how this came about. Or rather, whose plan it was. Uncle Samsik is a fictional tale set in a tumultuous time in South Korea, a little after the Korean War. It’s a historical drama that tells the story of a man determined to make a change in the country and how he uses the government and military to do so. Starring Song Kang-Oh in the lead, the show is quite different from anything else in the K-drama scene.