Min Hyungbae: "Severe Concentration of Public Libraries in the Seoul Metropolitan Area"

Regional Disparities in Library Facilities... Gwangju Accounts for Only 2%
"Ministry of Culture Should Expand According to User Demand"

Min Hyungbae, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

Nearly half of all public libraries in South Korea are concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area, and there are significant disparities in the number of facilities and users across different regions.

According to the "2024 National Cultural Infrastructure Directory" submitted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to Min Hyungbae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (representing Gwangsan-eul, Gwangju), as of September 19, out of 1,296 public libraries nationwide, 589 (45%) are located in the Seoul metropolitan area. This means that one out of every two libraries is in this region. In Gwangju, there are only 30 public libraries, accounting for just 2% of the national total.

By region, Gyeonggi Province has the highest number of public libraries at 323 (24.9%), followed by Seoul with 212 (16.4%), South Gyeongsang Province with 79 (6.1%), South Jeolla Province with 77 (5.9%), North Gyeongsang Province with 74 (5.7%), Gangwon Province with 69 (5.3%), and North Jeolla Province with 67 (5.2%). Gwangju, with 30 libraries (2.3%), falls below the national average.

There are also significant differences in the number of library users by region. Gyeonggi Province recorded the highest number of users at 66.65 million, followed by Seoul with 52.25 million, South Gyeongsang Province with 13.82 million, Busan with 11.05 million, and Incheon with 10.53 million. In contrast, Sejong had the lowest figures, with only 16 libraries and 1.54 million users.

Some regions also showed imbalances between the number of public libraries and the number of users. For example, Busan ranked fourth in the number of users but only ninth in the number of facilities, while South Jeolla Province ranked fourth in the number of facilities but eighth in the number of users.

In Gwangju, the number of library users has increased each year over the past three years, but the operating budget has actually decreased. The budget dropped from 16.224 billion won in 2022 to 14.357 billion won in 2023, and further to 11.572 billion won in 2024.

Assemblyman Min stated, "The value of public libraries, which allow neighbors to share knowledge and culture, remains unchanged even as times change." He pointed out, "The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism should actively expand public libraries, taking into account the number of users and regional balance." He added, "Since a portion of the budget for the construction of a National Assembly Library branch has been included in next year's government proposal, I will actively support efforts at the National Assembly level to attract a branch to Gwangju."

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