Author So Jae-won, Victim of 'Book Terror'... "Far-Right Are More Malicious Than Expected"

"Severe Damage to Returned Books"

Writer So Jae-won, who publicly criticized President Yoon Suk-yeol, claimed that he was subjected to a 'book return attack' by far-right forces.

On the 21st, So stated on social media (SNS), "After criticizing the insurrection suspect Yoon Suk-yeol, the number of returns of my works at bookstores reached an all-time high. This is the first time in my career as a writer that so many returns have occurred," adding, "Sales have been halved, and almost all the publishers of my works have requested that I be cautious in my remarks about the insurrection."

Photo by So, the artist, released on the 21st. Scribbles are written on the pages of a book presumed to be returned. So, artist's SNS

He then shared a photo of a page from one of the returned books, on which red handwriting containing profanity was scrawled. Criticizing the book return behavior of President Yoon’s supporters, he said, "The degree of damage to the returned books was very severe," and added, "Even if the books were not damaged, I consider reselling them to be deceptive to readers, so I asked the publishers to preserve the losses and to discard all the returned books."

He continued, "The far-right forces were more vicious than expected. They did not buy my works at bookstores but purchased them directly from the publishers," explaining, "If they buy from bookstores, the rankings go up, and returns are complicated, so they chose publishers who find it difficult to handle returns."

Finally, So hinted that he will continue to voice criticism regarding the impeachment situation. He said, "Today, a truck came from the recycling company to collect my works. Even so, I visit the mart. The weather is said to be warm this week, so I am bringing canned coffee and snacks to Gwanghwamun instead of hot packs," and expressed his conviction, "I believe in us. I am a writer who represents the vulnerable. That is the reason I hold the pen."

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