'Distortion Controversy' Kim Il-sung Memoirs Ultimately Pulled from Sale... Kyobo Bookstore Cites "Customer Protection"

Anti-Japanese memoir of North Korean President Kim Il-sung, "With the Century."
[Photo provided by Yes24 homepage]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] On the 23rd, Kyobo Bookstore, the largest bookstore in South Korea, held a countermeasure meeting regarding the anti-Japanese memoir "With the Century" by North Korean leader Kim Il-sung, and the publishing industry reported on the 25th that it decided to suspend new sales of the book. Accordingly, "With the Century" can no longer be searched on Kyobo Bookstore's online store.

The eight-volume set of "With the Century," published by Minjok Sarangbang Publishing on the 1st, is known to contain the history of Kim Il-sung's anti-Japanese armed struggle. However, there have been controversies over the memoir's content, including accusations of glorifying Kim Il-sung and factual inaccuracies. The book is also known to be a direct reproduction of the original text published by the North Korean Workers' Party publishing house, which has sparked debates over distortion of facts and legal violations.

In 2011, the Supreme Court ruled that this book, which contains Kim Il-sung's anti-Japanese armed struggle history, is a pro-North Korean propaganda material. At that time, the Supreme Court upheld the original sentence of one year imprisonment and one year disqualification for Mr. Jung, who was indicted for illegally visiting North Korea, and judged that the "With the Century" he possessed constituted pro-North Korean propaganda material.

A Kyobo Bookstore official explained the suspension of sales by saying, "Considering that readers who purchase books judged as pro-North Korean propaganda material by the Supreme Court could also be punished, we decided not to accept new orders to protect customers," and added, "This measure prioritizes the customers' position regardless of political issues or judgments."

He continued, "If a judgment is made by the court or the Publication Ethics Committee in the future, we will decide whether to resume new orders accordingly," and added, "We hope for a swift decision so that this situation can be resolved quickly."

Earlier, on the 22nd, Kyobo Bookstore recalled a total of three copies of the book from two offline stores in Gwanghwamun and Gangnam, as well as from the logistics center at its Paju Book City headquarters, and returned them to the distributor, the Korea Publishing Cooperative.

This book is distributed to online and offline bookstores only through the Korea Publishing Cooperative, a publishing organization with about 800 domestic publishers as members, rather than through direct transactions between the publisher and bookstores. The total order volume is known to be about 100 copies so far.

Meanwhile, some civic groups and individuals filed a provisional injunction with the court on the 24th to ban the sale and distribution of "With the Century." They argued, "Selling and distributing a book that fabricates and glorifies Kim Il-sung, a perpetrator of crimes against humanity, without restriction violates Article 10 of the Constitution on human dignity and personality rights, as well as the principles of Articles 3 and 4 of the Constitution, which form the basis of the National Security Act." They also emphasized, "Based on the theory of defensive democracy, the state must step in to protect fundamental rights and uphold the Constitution."

On the 22nd, Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, claimed on his Facebook that "there is no problem with allowing the domestic publication of North Korean publications."
[Photo by Facebook]

On the other hand, there are opinions that the domestic publication of North Korean publications such as Kim Il-sung's memoirs is not problematic.

Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, said on his Facebook on the 22nd, "Who would be fooled by Kim Il-sung's memoirs?" He added, "Kim Il-sung's memoirs are largely fictional, and no citizen would be deceived by the glorification logic just because of the use of flowery language." He argued, "Controlling all information related to North Korea treats citizens like infants. Let's trust the people and actively guarantee freedom of expression."

He continued, "If we ban North Korean books, do we have the right to criticize North Korea for banning the Korean Wave?" and stated, "Even if North Korea bans the Korean Wave, we should allow North Korean publications to demonstrate the superiority of the liberal democratic system."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.