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Global Exposure for Korea at World’s Biggest Book Fair

The Korea Foundation participated in the 62nd Frankfurt Book Fair held in Frankfurt, Germany, on October 6-10, 2010. In recent years, the Foundation has sought to publicize its media programs by participating in major book events, such as the Seoul International Book Fair, Tokyo International Book Fair, and the Frankfurt Book Fair.



The Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s biggest book event that is now in its 62nd year of operation, was organized by AuM of the German Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Association. It attracted global attention that included the participation of some 7,539 publishing concerns from 111 countries, along with about 280,000 visitors. It is also the world’s No. 1 book event in terms of the volume of copyright transactions, which accounts for some 25 percent of the annual copyright business.

‘Digital’ Book Fair
The foremost topic at this year’s book fair was the emerging “digital revolution,” which has come to define the future direction of the publishing industry. As such, six “Hot Spot” sites were set up within the exhibition venue as digital platforms for six areas – mobile, devices, publishing services, information management, education, and literature/special interests – to demonstrate the latest technology solutions for publishers, related to mobile applications, content distribution, e-books, and educational software.
In addition, “Story Drive” demonstrated applications to integrate publishing content with various types of media, including cinema, music, games, and social networks, through cross-media cooperation and content utilization. In conjunction with the book fair, related activities included the 24th International Rights Directors Meeting and another 3,000 supplemental events, such as lectures on copyright issues and digital publication, promotional seminars, panel discussions, and receptions.



Foundation Publicity
The Korea Foundation maintained a separate area within the Korea Pavilion to exhibit 50 or so of its recent publications and periodicals, along with books published with its program assistance. With the display of a large number of foreign-language books on Korea, a constant stream of visitors took the time to look through the materials, especially in regard to items on Korean culture. Visitors to the Foundation area included individuals such as publishers and distributors as well as area residents.
The materials that attracted the greatest interest included “Korean Ceramics” (Korean Culture Series Vol. 12), “Modern Korean Artists,” “Fragrance of Korea: The Ancient Gilt-Bronze Incense Burner of Baekje,” “Korean Cuisine,” and the Foundation’s quarterly magazine "Koreana" on the culture and arts of Korea, which is available in eight languages. Especially, local German visitors were pleased to find a German-language edition of Koreana and a variety of Korea-related book published in German, which demonstrated the importance of producing materials in various local languages.



Foreign-language Material
Of note, the Foundation’s foreign-language books on Korea accounted for more than half of the books in foreign languages that were displayed by the Korean Publishers Association, the organizer of the Korea Pavilion. This clearly revealed a serious lack of Korea-related books being published in foreign languages by Korea’s publishing industry, along with confirming the significance of the Foundation’s publication efforts and an urgent need to allocate additional resources for the production of foreign-language publications and related materials.
For example, at the China Pavilion, which featured a “Reading China” banner, a large majority of the China-related books were available in foreign languages. China’s state-level assistance and diverse publicity activities were highly impressive and effective. Turkey also extensively publicized its “TEDA Project” that provides support for the publication of books on Turkey in foreign languages, along with displaying a number of books that had been published with this assistance.
Although the recent Frankfurt Book Fair mainly involved individual publishing firms and national pavilions, cultural organizations such as the Japan Foundation, the Cervantes Institute of Spain, and the Goethe Institute of Germany had also actively participated in order to publicize their overseas programs. Through its participation in the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Korea Foundation was able to make its programs known to a global audience, and also learn about publication trends and receive feedback on its publication activities. Although the Foundation intends to continue and expand its publication and media activities, much more state-level and assistance efforts will be needed to advance this important aspect of Korea’s public diplomacy.

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