"Books Are the Future!"... Publishers Take to the Streets Demanding "Withdraw Budget Cuts"

Publishing Industry Rally
Over 500 Participants from 18 Organizations
"Withdraw Budget Cuts and Listen to the Voices of Publishers" Demanded

On the afternoon of the 17th, the publishing industry held a rally near the Seoul office of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, urging the government to play a proper role in "reviving book culture." Approximately 500 people from 18 organizations (estimated by the Korea Publishers Association) demanded that the government withdraw measures such as budget cuts and listen to the voices of publishers, stating that cultural policies are moving backward amid increasingly difficult publishing conditions.

In his opening remarks at the rally, Yoon Cheol-ho, president of the Korea Publishers Association, pointed out, "Although it is the government's role to ensure that good and diverse books can be published, publishers currently have no idea what the government is doing," adding, "The voices coming from the minister of the relevant department are too detached from reality." Yoon outlined four major demands from the publishing industry: ▲ Stop plans to cut publishing support budgets for basic academic and cultural publications such as Sejong Books, National Academy of Sciences books, and the Literature Sharing Project, and significantly increase the budget for library book purchases ▲ Amend laws to make society recognize illegal scanning and copying as copyright theft crimes and enforce them properly ▲ Revise the Copyright Act and Library Act, which do not guarantee the rights and interests of publishers ▲ Have the minister personally listen to the voices of publishing companies.

Participants of the Publishing Culture Rally to Revive Book Culture are holding a picket protest.
[Photo by Korea Publishers Association]

Participants in the rally pointed out that budgets for projects such as the Sejong Books program, the National Academy of Sciences' selection of excellent academic books, and the Literature Sharing Project by the Korea Arts Council are at risk of partial or full cuts. Kwak Mi-soon, vice president of the Korea Publishers Association, criticized, "In a situation where various publishing-related budgets are at risk of being cut, the head of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is showing administrative dysfunction by announcing the K-Book Vision Declaration, support measures for one-person publishing, and small and medium-sized publishing without any discussion with the publishing industry."

Jang Ju-yeon, president of the Korea Science and Technology Publishing Association, highlighted the issue of illegal reproduction and scanning, which are illegal copyright distribution problems. He demanded, "The current widespread illegal reproduction in the publishing sector is not only a survival issue for publishers but also a crisis for our country's knowledge base, higher education, and cultural industry. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism must actively work to eradicate illegal reproduction and illegal copyright distribution."

Park No-il, vice president of the Korea Academic Publishing Association, stated, "While many countries overseas have introduced neighboring rights or print rights to protect publishers and promote the publishing industry, our country has neglected this." He argued that the 'compensation for educational use' (fees paid when books are used as educational materials), currently paid only to copyright holders, should also be paid to publishers. He also emphasized the need to introduce public lending rights.

The rally took place amid conflicts between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Publishers Association. This year, the ministry has shown signs of reducing the scale of existing publishing support projects funded by government budgets. Recently, it sparked backlash from the publishing industry by auditing the accounting of the Seoul International Book Fair, hosted by the Korea Publishers Association with national subsidies. The ministry claimed that several hundred million won in revenue was missing according to the audit results of the Seoul International Book Fair and requested a police investigation on June 2 against President Yoon and others for alleged violations of the Subsidy Management Act. In response, the Korea Publishers Association stated, "We have completed subsidy settlements according to regulations and submitted all necessary documents through accounting audits," and criticized Minister Park for "damaging the reputation of the association and publishers with baseless accusations."

However, the publishing industry denied any connection between this issue and the rally. Yoon Cheol-ho said, "This rally was planned long before the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's audit of the Seoul International Book Fair or the sharp attacks on the association," drawing a clear line, but also criticized, "The minister has never met or talked with publishers, yet suddenly held a meeting and issued press releases when the publishing industry decided to hold a rally." Recently, the ministry announced support measures for one-person and small and medium-sized publishers, crackdowns on illegal reproductions, and export support plans for web novels.

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