Six Out of Ten Adults Don't Read... Reading Turns Into a Sports Day

Average Weekday Reading Time 18.2 Minutes, E-Book Reading Rate Among 20s at 59.4%

Platform and Local Government "Gamified Reading" Experiments Amid Declining Reading Rates

Expanding Reading Touchpoints Through Apps, Public Spaces, and Challe

Although the number of readers is declining, competition among platforms to retain readers is becoming increasingly fierce. There is a growing trend to transform reading into "participatory content" by introducing mechanisms such as tracking time spent, achieving goals, and certifying completion. Some observers note that reading is no longer just a quiet pastime, but is now central to platform strategies that design users' habits and time spent on the platform.

Amid a yearly decline in national reading rates, the e-book reading rate among people in their 20s is 59.4%, showing a change in how books are read. Kyobo Bookstore

According to the publishing and platform industry on May 21, participatory reading programs are rapidly emerging, particularly on e-book platforms, online bookstores, and content platforms. These programs aggregate reading time to meet set goals, convert time spent reading into running distances, or allow users to record their reading activity in note form. The focus has shifted beyond simply encouraging people to read, aiming instead to get users to actually open books and stay engaged over time.

The backdrop to this trend is a decline in reading rates. According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's "2025 National Reading Survey," the annual comprehensive reading rate for adults stood at 38.5%, down 4.5 percentage points compared to 2023. The annual average number of books read per adult was 2.4, a decrease of 1.5 books from the previous survey, and average reading time per weekday was just 18.2 minutes.

The core issue is not the books themselves, but time and habits. The same survey found that adults most frequently cited lack of time and the use of other media and content as reasons for not reading. Books now face competition not just from other books but from short-form videos, social networking services (SNS), games, and more. This means that simply stressing the "value of reading" is no longer enough to keep readers engaged.

Platforms are targeting this gap with a "gamification" strategy. Millie's Library, a KT affiliate, held the "Millie Reading Sports Day" reading challenge during the May festival season, using a sports day theme. The event aggregated total reading time for all participants on a weekly basis, setting a target of 1,000 hours per week. The first week's program, "Rolling the Ball of Wisdom," focused on books in the humanities, philosophy, and self-development categories, recording a total of 2,268 hours read. This amounted to 227% of the initial target.

The focus is on "entry" rather than completion. Millie's Library designed the program so that users naturally shift to genres they don't usually read—such as humanities, philosophy, self-development, economics and management, and novels—by changing the category each week. Visual rewards were added, such as filling a basket and breaking a gourd as reading time accumulates. In this way, rewards are placed on the process itself rather than the outcome of reading.

People in their 20s prefer e-books over paper books. Source: Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism "2025 National Reading Survey"

YES24 has combined reading with running. The "2026 Reading Run" campaign converts reading time into distance. When users measure their reading time using the application timer, every 10 minutes counts as 1 km. Courses are divided into Starter (10 km), Half (21 km), and Marathon (42 km). Users can check their completion status in real time and receive a certificate upon finishing a course.

Kakao's Brunch platform has connected reading with record-keeping. The second "Brunch Reading Challenge" project uses the in-app "Live Reading" feature to measure reading time and volume, allowing users to publish this information as reading notes. The project runs for 30 days from May 6 to June 4. One thousand participants who write reading notes for more than three days will receive special edition books and goods produced in collaboration with local bookstores. The first challenge previously attracted 10,000 applicants within six days and saw 51,477 reading notes written over a month. This project is being conducted in partnership with the Gunsan local bookstore "Mariseosa."

The public sector is also changing the venues for reading. Seoul Metropolitan Government has operated outdoor libraries such as "Reading Seoul Plaza" at Seoul Plaza, "Gwanghwamun Book Square" at Gwanghwamun, and "Reading Cheonggyecheon Stream" at Cheonggyecheon. According to Seoul City, outdoor libraries in Seoul have attracted about 8 million visitors since their opening in 2022, with 2.83 million visitors recorded in 2025 alone.

This trend reveals the paradox of the reading market: while the number of people who read books is declining, experiments to make reading a part of daily life are on the rise. In the past, reading campaigns were closer to slogans like "Let's read books," but now they have evolved to include time tracking, rankings, and a combination of certification and record-keeping. Reading is expanding beyond the realm of personal will into an industry that designs user experiences.

The changing habits of people in their 20s are cited as evidence of this shift. According to the "2025 National Reading Survey," the annual comprehensive reading rate among people in their 20s was 75.3%. The e-book reading rate was 59.4%, surpassing the paper book reading rate of 45.1%. This suggests that this generation is not becoming more distant from books, but rather is moving beyond a paper-centric reading style.

A representative from the publishing and reading platform industry said, "The desire to read has not disappeared just because reading rates have declined," adding, "The real issue is the initial barrier to opening a book." The representative continued, "Designing participatory experiences that allow users to keep reading naturally, without burdening them, is increasingly important."

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