SEOUL, Aug. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea saw the addition of 38 new public libraries nationwide last year thanks to the government’s efforts to enhance access to libraries in recent years. According to a recent statistical survey by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and its affiliated Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, the [...]
SEOUL, June 9 (Korea Bizwire) — With the coronavirus pandemic prompting the growing popularity of ‘untact consumption’, the publishing industry is seeing online book sales outstrip offline sales. Kyobo Book Center, the No. 1 online and offline bookstore in South Korea, said Monday that its book sales via mobile and web platforms this year comprised [...]
SEOUL, May 8 (Korea Bizwire) — The southeastern port city of Ulsan said Thursday it will carry out a project to pay back the price of books purchased by citizens to promote reading. Citizens who buy a book, read it and then donate it to the Ulsan Metropolitan Library within four weeks will get their money [...]
SEOUL, May 7 (Korea Bizwire) — A growing number of South Koreans are taking up reading to pass the time as they are spending more time indoors due to the coronavirus. As public libraries have shut down due to social distancing policy, South Koreans are resorting to digital devices to read e-books or borrow books [...]
SEOUL, April 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Save the Children, a nongovernment organization for international relief and development, is conducting a “Save with Stories” challenge in which popular stars read fairy tales. The challenge was arranged with a number of South Korean celebrities reading children’s stories out loud to help kids who are home-bound during quarantine [...]
SEOUL, March 16 (Korea Bizwire) — A classic novel that was published more than 70 years ago and widely read so far, has recently been on the bestseller list at Korean bookstores in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak. The classic novel that is catching on is “The Plague” written by Albert Camus in [...]
SEOUL, March 12 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean adults are reading fewer books as video platforms such as YouTube and Netflix continue to replace them. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism reported on Wednesday that South Korean adults read an average of 7.5 books, both paper and electronic editions combined, every year. Compared to [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans nearly halved their spending on books over the years from 2010 to 2018 as fewer people picked up the paper medium, data showed Friday. The average monthly spending on books by a South Korean household came to 12,054 won (US$10.40) as of 2018, compared with 21,902 won [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — “Solely about me” has been the overriding key word for the 2019 publishing market, with several essay collections with the theme selling the highest numbers of copies this year, according to the biggest bookstore chain. Summing up the trend of the publishing market this year, Kyobo Book Center said [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — The YouTube sensation is also impacting the book industry. Yes24, an online bookstore, chose ‘going from media seller to a YouTube seller’ as this year’s trend keyword for publication. “YouTube videos that summarize various books are attracting massive interest, having a heavy impact on bestselling trends,” said Yes24. “Book [...]