In North Korea, One Piece wasn't released there due to laws that prohibits foreign programming (mostly Western) from airing there. Therefore, this article mainly deals with One Piece in South Korea.
One Piece (원피스, RR: Wonpiseu) is translated by Comic Champ, a South Korean comic magazine of publisher Daewon C.I. since 1998. Daewon C.I. began to be officially released as books in January 9, 1999.[1] As of September 25, 2023, Volume 106 has released.
The anime premiered in South Korea in May 20, 2003 on the channel KBS 2TV. As like many other Japanese animations in Korea, the dub was edited for content to air on children's TV (One Piece received a "12" rating for these airing on KBS 2). As a result, most, excessive violence and anything deemed unacceptable for children and almost any element of Japanese culture was edited from the dub. This is similar to the Spanish dub in that they wanted to make the show more localized for viewer, so as a result most Japanese text was digitally erased and written in Korean. This includes Sanji's cigarette becoming a lollipop, Zoro's swords (and another sharp implement) colored in black and dulled, Japanese text changed to Korean, and cleavage being erased and covered up (see more examples below).
However, an uncut version of the Korean dub ran simultaneously to the edited version on another popular children's Channel called Champ TV (these airing were rated "15"). The dub ran for four years (May 2003 - May 2007) and for six "seasons" (each comprised from 30-52 episodes each) up to episode 219, where the dub abruptly stopped. It wasn't until 2009 when another popular animation channel called Tooniverse picked up the dub and began airing the edited version from episode 1. In January 2010, it was announced that One Piece 7 (season 7) would be airing on Tooniverse in February 2010 from episode 220. This season featured the same cast as the previous seasons (except Chopper's voice actor was replaced) and featured less censorship (Sanji still has a lollipop and blood is erased, but few Japanese texts are changed to Korean and sharp implements are no longer colored black). The first ten One Piece movies (up to Strong World) have been dubbed into Korean with minimal censorship and have been broadcast on Tooniverse.
When Tooniverse dubbed Water Seven, Daewon Broadcasting (Anione TV, AniBox, and Champ TV), a South Korean broadcaster, began dubbing the One Piece from episode 1. Despite it being a more censored version, Tooniverse eventually gave up the copyright of the original One Piece, and Daewon Broadcasting is still broadcasting.
As of January of 2022, 1044 episodes have been dubbed in Korean.
The One Piece logo in the Korean Dub (seasons 1-6)
Any Insert songs (such as Family) are replaced with instrumental versions of the opening or ending.
Openings and Endings[]
In South Korea, unlike other countries, We Are! was not used as the opening song. Instead, new songs were self-produced for the domestic release. The name of the first opening song is 우리의 꿈 (Our Dream, RR: Uriui kkum), and it was sung by Koyote, a famous music group at the time in South Korea, this was aired on KBS2. The song itself was released on May 20, 2003 through the anime, but was released digitally much later on December 24, 2018 through Koyote's digital single "Re-born Part.2 Our Dream".[3][4] And it was released digitally on February 8, 2019 through Koyote's special album "20th ANNIVERSARY 'REborn'". The name of the first ending song is 나를 너에게 (Me to You, RR: Nareul neoege), and it was sung by Shin Ji of Koyote and it was aired on KBS2. The song itself was released on May 20, 2003 through the anime, but was released digitally much later on August 21, 2021 through Shin Ji's digital single "Me to You".[5]
The name of the second opening song is 꿈이 있기에 (Because of a Dream, RR: Kkumi itgie), and it was sung by Kim Kyung-ho and it was aired on Tooniverse. The song itself was released on February 15, 2010 through the anime, but was not released as an album. The name of the second ending song is 세상 저 끝까지 (Until The End Of The Earth, RR: Sesang jeo kkeutkkaji), and it was sung by Bada and it was aired on Tooniverse. The song itself was released on February 15, 2010 through the anime, and it was released digitally before on February 12, 2010 through Tooniverse' album "Strong World OST".[6]
Daewon Broadcasting was used songs from KBS2 and Tooniverse, and they began airing Japanese versions with subtitles starting from the 16th season. Then they translated lyrics and dubbed the Korean version of We Go!. The singer who sang this song is Myname.[7]
Korean Opening 1 Entitled "Our Dream" (used in seasons 1-3)
Korean Opening 1 Entitled "Our Dream" (used in seasons 4-6)
Due to the 2019 Japan-South Korea trade dispute, One Piece: Stampede wasn't released in South Korea. However, it was later confirmed to release on February 13, 2020, and aired on Anibox (a Korean anime channel) on July 3 of the same year.
↑"'원피스' 애니, 대원방송 통해 HD리마스터링 버전 국내 방영"［'One Piece' animation, HD remastered version aired in South Korea through Daewon Broadcasting］. IT Chosun (in Korean). October 15, 2019
↑"코요테, 리메이크곡 '우리의 꿈' 선공개…원피스 주제가 첫 정식 발매"［Koyote pre-releases remake song 'Our Dreams'… First official release of One Piece theme song］. Sports Seoul (in Korean). December 24, 2018
↑"신지, 다이어트 얼마나 했길래 얼굴 반쪽 됐네..걸그룹 저리가라"［Shin Ji, how long have you been dieting to make half your face look... go away from the girl group］. Newsen (in Korean). September 2, 2021
↑"애니송, 당당한 음악장르로 '진화'"［Anisong, 'evolution' into a proud music genre］. ZDNET Korea (in Korean). February 4, 2010
