Press Releases

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Sep 08,2022

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister PARK Bo Gyoon, MCST) in collaboration with the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea (President KIM Jun-hee, KPIPA) will hold customized exchange events tailored to overseas readers in eleven (11) countries, including Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Mexico, Argentina, Egypt, Iran, England, Poland, France, and Australia to promote the appeal of Korean Books (K-Books) and support their overseas advancement.

In particular, joint hosting of events with the Korean Cultural Centers overseas in an effort to better understand the preferences and demands of local readers will help improve access to K-books and broaden the reach of K-Culture. Last year, events for local readers of K-Books were held in fourteen (14) countries including Japan, Vietnam, Turkey, England, Sweden, and Belgium.

The first event in September will be held in Sydney. On Sept 8 and 9, the Korean Cultural Center in Sydney will invite translator KIM So-ra to give a special lecture (at Macquarie University), prepare session for “Meet the Translator” (at Willoughby City Library), and a “Book Club with the Translator with a Novel . The book club event will be broadcasted live via the Cultural Center's YouTube channel for Korean literature enthusiasts who cannot come to the venue in person.

The Korean Cultural Center in Poland will invite author CHUNG Bora, who was shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize, England, and hold "Meet the Author" session as a pre-promotion event on September 24 to celebrate the publication of her book in Polish. In addition on September 26, a special lecture with the author is planned for the students of the SWPS University (University of Social Sciences and Humanities) in Poland which has started offering a Korean Studies program recently. These events are expected to create rapport with Polish readers and broaden the audience base of Korean literature.

In October, Korean book exchange events will continue to be held in the UK, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Following last year, the Korean Cultural Center in the UK will hold the “Korean Culture Month” this year as well, where Korean books will be on display and available for sale for the month of October at the main Charing Cross Road store of Foyles, the leading bookstore in the UK. Fiona BAE, who recently published a book related to K-culture (Make Break Remix: The Rise of K-Style, Thames & Hudson, England) in the UK, and a designer KIM Young-na who oversaw the entire “Hallyu” exhibition design at the Victoria & Albert Museum in the UK will be invited to engage in Korean culture (Hallyu) discussions and other events as part of the efforts to promote Korean culture in general.

On October 7 and 8 in Jakarta, Indonesia, the Korean Cultural Center in Indonesia plans to hold various Korean book experience events “K-Book: Beyond the Hallyu”, including the introduction of Korean books for children and youths, making bookmarks, and experiencing Hangul Day to help increase the audience of Korean literature. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Korea and Vietnam this year, the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam will hold the “2022 Korean Culture Day in Ho Chi Minh” event in October and host an exhibition of Korean books and meetings with Korean writers.

 

Expanding the foundation of K-Culture for publication by holding events tailored to each region such as Latin America, Africa, and Europe

 

Events related to Korean picture books will be held in Mexico and France. As heightened interest and standing have been seen in Korean picture books abroad recently, the Korean Cultural Center in Mexico will hold a “Korea-Mexico Picture Book Translation Contest” for local readers in November, and the Korean Cultural Center in France will hold the “Korean Picture Book Translation & Recitation Festival” in December for local students learning Korean. By introducing Korea's excellent picture books to Europe and Latin America, access to Korean picture books will improve and further support for Korean picture books will help them lead the global picture book market as a major player in K-Culture. The Korean Cultural Center in Argentina plans to invite SON Won-pyeong, author of , in November to create and attract a new group of Korean culture lovers by meeting with local readers. At the end of September, the Korean Cultural Center in Egypt will hold a “K-Books, Let’s Read Together” event to find ways to boost interest in Korean books and reinvigorate translation and publications by holding exhibitions of Korean books, meetings with Korean authors, and Korean translation seminars.

 

In May and July, Korean books and culture were promoted with the participation in local book fairs held in Hong Kong and Iran. The Korean Cultural Center in Hong Kong exhibited Korean books at the “Hong Kong Book Fair” in July and invited KYUNG Hye-won, author of , which was selected as one of the Top 10 recommended children's books in Hong Kong in 2021, and held an autograph-signing session and seminar. In Iran, the Korean Embassy exhibited 180 Korean books at the “Tehran International Book Fair” in May and they received rave reviews from local readers in Iran.