
Kim Joongoo: General editor of Naver Webtoon. Sol and Taeyang, dogs raised at Ae-bong's house. Choi Ko-bong, Ae-bong's younger brother. Jo Yool-bong: Jo and Ae-bong's daughter. He was a rugby player and owner of a chicken restaurant. Choi Ae-bong: Jo's girlfriend, and, since June 2014, wife. Jo Seok: The author himself in his comic. In The Sound of Heart, most characters are based on people in the author's life. The Sound of Heart features author Jo Seok as the main character. 500 episodes had been translated into English by the time The Sound of Heart concluded. Jo said he felt "lucky to be able to feel 'done' with the comic." During its run, the webtoon accumulated nearly 7 billion views and 15 million comments. The Sound of Heart concluded in July 2020, after running for 14 years. Jo published other webcomics on Naver Webtoon during the run of The Sound of Heart, such as Jo's Area and Moon You. When Jo got married in 2014, he did not have a wedding ceremony or honeymoon trip because he did not want a lapse in his update schedule.
Since Jo started posting his webcomic on Naver, views averaged 5 million per update, a total of over 5 billion views. On December 17, 2015, the 1,000th episode of The Sound of Heart was posted on Naver. Jo began posting The Sound of Heart on Naver Webtoon in September 2006, and by 2014 it was the longest running webtoon on the platform. Jo Seok graduated from Jeonju University with a major in video cultural studies in 2002, and wanted to infuse an interest in cartoons to those who haven't been fans of graphic novels.