Lee Younchang on the heart behind ‘My Daughter is a Zombie’
Rather than painting his hero as simply right or wrong, Lee wanted readers to wrestle with the same moral dilemma.
Text size
Rather than painting his hero as simply right or wrong, Lee wanted readers to wrestle with the same moral dilemma.
Share
At first glance, My Daughter is a Zombie sounds like an unlikely blend of horror and comedy. But for Korean webtoon creator Lee Younchang, the story has always been about the lengths a parent would go to protect a child and the difficult questions that come with unconditional love.
Speaking about the inspiration behind his globally popular webtoon at the opening of the 2026 Korean Film Festival, Lee revealed that he intentionally wrote a protagonist who would divide readers.
“From a third person’s point of view, Jeonghwan, who is the main character, might seem like a very hateful person because he’s secretly hiding and raising his daughter, who actually contains a very dangerous zombie virus,” Lee said.
Rather than painting his hero as simply right or wrong, Lee wanted readers to wrestle with the same moral dilemma.
“That was the exact intention that I was putting into the work when I was writing this webtoon because I knew that people were going to despise the main character. But at one point in their hearts, they were also going to think, ‘If I were this main character, if I was Jeonghwan, what would I do?’”
That emotional conflict, he believes, is what allowed My Daughter Is a Zombie to transcend language and culture.
“Those emotions could bring out a relatable feeling to the viewers or the readers, and I think that was one of the reasons why it was loved by so many readers around the globe,” he told DAILY TRIBUNE.
Storytelling has always been about balancing entertainment with sincerity for Lee. The artist has been creating webtoons since 2011 and has completed four major projects over the last 15 years. In an industry known for its relentless pace, he joked that he considers himself “one of the few survivors.”
While comedy has become his trademark, he explained that humor is only one layer of his stories.
“I usually draw comedy projects, but not only the comedy part. I also love including sincerity in the stories that I work on,” he shared.
That philosophy is evident in My Daughter Is a Zombie, where absurd situations and laugh-out-loud moments gradually give way to themes of family, sacrifice and empathy.
As the webtoon makes the leap from page to screen through its live-action adaptation, Lee hopes audiences will discover the same emotional core that resonated with readers around the world.
“My goal right now is to make this my own genre that readers will recognize,” he said.
For Lee, telling stories that make people laugh first, then quietly ask themselves what they would do when love is tested in the most impossible circumstances, is the most profound work of all.
