"Please line up in an orderly manner."

On June 18, the opening day of the Seoul International Book Fair, a winding line stretching for hundreds of meters formed in front of Hall A at COEX in Gangnam, Seoul, as early as 30 minutes before entry. Security staff in yellow shirts, stationed throughout the venue, loudly directed the ever-growing crowd to the end of the existing line.

The entrance of the '2025 Seoul International Book Fair' is bustling with visitors. Photo by Jinhyung Kang

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Many attendees traveled long distances, some even pulling suitcases behind them. A group of university students who left Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province at dawn stood out. The 'Book Leaders' reading club from Daejin University attended the fair together with 13 members. Kim Sion (20) said, "This is my second visit, and it seems larger than last year, so I'm excited. The biggest attraction is being able to meet small publishers." Jung Seokhoon (24), a university student attending the fair for the first time, shared, "I'm looking forward to it because readers and writers can interact and communicate beyond the books themselves."

When the exhibition hall doors opened at 10 a.m., a massive crowd surged inside. The booths that drew the most visitors had several things in common: they offered interactive events, featured sophisticated booth designs, or held limited-time, first-come-first-served sales.

At the Munhakdongne booth, a long line formed for the limited sale of the 'Monthly Classic' series, which features new covers for the world literature series and releases one title each month. A representative said, "We are offering the July issue of Monthly Classic in a limited quantity of 100 copies per day during the book fair, ahead of the general release, which has drawn many visitors. The 'blind book,' which is wrapped so the contents are unknown, and the stylishly designed bookmarks are also very popular."

Dasan Books collaborated with Ottogi to present an event corner where visitors create their own bookmark keyrings by combining images of various food ingredients. Photo by Seo Mideum

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Dasan Books collaborated with Ottogi to run a special exhibition called 'Food for the Mind Restaurant.' The booth, themed around good writing and warm food, attracted many visitors. Among the interactive events, the corner where visitors could choose cute ingredients, string them together, laminate them, and create unique bookmark keyrings was especially popular.

The Pyeongsan Bookshop booth, operated by the foundation of former President Moon Jae-in, was crowded with people wanting to purchase souvenirs such as tumblers. One middle-aged woman even asked a staff member, "What kind of cup does President Moon Jae-in use? I want to buy the same one." Former President Moon Jae-in and his wife are scheduled to visit the booth in person at 5 p.m. today.

Yes24, an online bookstore that recently suffered a ransomware hacking incident, set up an extensive interactive event booth. The booth, decorated in a refreshing blue theme, attracted attention by offering gifts through a lottery to visitors who participated in light activities.

Minumsa and Changbi drew many visitors purely through the appeal of their content, without any special events.

Han Kang's book is exhibited at the '2025 Seoul International Book Fair.' Photo by Kang Jinhyung

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This year's Seoul International Book Fair, held under the theme of 'A Corner to Rely On,' is the largest ever and will run until June 22. A total of 535 publishers are participating, offering 370 programs, and over 100 publishers from 16 countries are also operating booths in the international section.

Meanwhile, at 9:30 a.m. on the same day, in front of the east gate of COEX where the book fair is being held, the 'Solidarity for Publicness in the Reading Ecosystem' held a press conference, strongly condemning attempts to 'incorporate,' 'privatize,' and 'commercialize' the Seoul International Book Fair.