This is a scene from last year's K-Book Copyright Market that ran from June 24-26, 2024, at Lotte Hotel World in Seoul's Songpa-gu District.

By Margareth Theresia

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on June 16 announced its joint hosting of this year's K-Book Copyright Market from June 16-18 with the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea at Lotte Hotel World in Seoul's Songpa-gu District.

Launched in 2018, the annual event focuses on exports of global publication copyrights. 

As a business-to-business platform, the fair invites foreign publishers and agencies to Korea for individual consultations with Korean publishers on exports of book copyrights and intellectual properties.

In addition, this year's event includes investment attraction sessions, seminars and exchanges.

A combined 100 companies from 30 countries will participate including those from Asia (Japan, Taiwan and Malaysia), Europe (Germany, the U.K. and Italy) and the Americas (U.S. and Mexico).

Leading foreign publishers and agencies such as HarperCollins and Penguin Random House of the U.S., Tuttle-Mori Agency of Japan and Nanmeebooks of Thailand will hold about 1,800 export consultations with 100 Korean publishers such as Dasan Books, Wisdom House, Book Mentor and Gilbut Kid.

Foreign companies from fields like broadcasting, over-the-top services, content creation and platforms will also attend.

The export consultations will be expanded from regular literature and children's picture books to nonfiction, cartoons and digital publishing.

Lim Seonghwan, director-general of the ministry's Media Policy Bureau, "The ministry will strive to achieve major advancement and growth of the publishing aspect of Hallyu (Korean Wave) by diversifying the export sectors for K-Books, explore new potential markets, and hold traveling book fairs that directly visit overseas markets."

margareth@korea.kr