Culture Ministry: "Excess Profits from Seoul International Book Fair Must Be Returned... Cooperation with Audit Required"

Ministry of Culture Refutes Korea Press Foundation's Claim That It Is Not Subject to Excess Profit Refund

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism refuted the Korea Publishers Association's claim that the return of excess profits from the Seoul International Book Fair to the state is not a legal obligation. Furthermore, the ministry emphasized that the current audit is a legitimate procedure for reviewing publishing policies and criticized the association to cooperate with the proper audit.

On the 25th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated in a press release, "This audit is an effort to verify the reality of the Seoul International Book Fair (hereinafter ‘Book Fair’) operation and accounting suspicions, opacity, and negligence newly revealed during the process of assessing the status and capabilities of publishing policy executing agencies for the advancement of K-Book and K-Publishing."

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo-gyun is speaking at a meeting related to the K-Book vision held on the 24th at the National Theater in Seogye-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The ministry explained that in 2021, the labor union of the Publishing Culture Industry Promotion Agency (hereinafter Publishing Promotion Agency) raised suspicions about the Book Fair’s profits, leading to an investigation. As a result, improper management of national subsidy funds was found, and in December of last year, a recalculation (for five years) of the budget supporting the Book Fair was requested.

Regarding the audit results, the ministry pointed out that Chairman Yoon Cheol-ho reported the business results after the 2018 and 2019 Book Fairs, presenting the profits generated from the project as if they were self-funded expenses. This means that the business profits were distorted and underreported.

Additionally, the ministry revealed that copies of bank statements submitted to verify the profit details from 2018 to 2022 showed that several hundred million won in deposits, including participation fees paid by overseas exhibitors, had been erased. They are currently investigating whether this was a simple mistake or intentional.

Moreover, the ministry stated that Chairman Yoon Cheol-ho’s claim that there is no obligation to return excess profits or report detailed profit statements is false. According to Article 18, Paragraph 2 of the Subsidy Act and Article 26 of the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s Integrated Management Guidelines for National Subsidies, the remaining balance of profits from subsidized projects must be returned to the state. This obligation was communicated to the Publishers Association each time subsidies were provided.

Earlier, on the 24th, Minister Park said at a press conference, “Upon reviewing the Publishers Association’s accounting, we found disgraceful misconduct such as omissions in the detailed profit statements of the Seoul International Book Fair.” He added, “If violations of the Subsidy Act or other laws are confirmed through the investigation, we will request the relevant authorities to investigate the responsible officials of the Publishers Association.” He also stated, “The Publishing Promotion Agency will be held accountable for its supervisory negligence regarding settlement tasks.”

In response, the Publishers Association stated, “Nowhere in the Subsidy Act or related laws is there a regulation requiring the reporting of detailed profit statements. The Seoul International Book Fair, as a private event, has never been obligated to return ‘excess profits to the national treasury,’” and demanded Minister Park’s dismissal.

Meanwhile, approximately 1 billion KRW in subsidies were provided for the Seoul International Book Fair held in June. The Publishers Association is known to have earned several hundred million won in profits from admission fees and booth usage fees paid by publishers and participating organizations during the fair.

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