The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister PARK Bo Gyoon, MCST) together with Korea Publication and Culture Industry Promotion Agency (Director KIM Joon Hee), held the 2022 K-Book Copyright Market[1] at the Seoul Garden Hotel in Seoul, for two days from November 29 (Tue) to 30 (Wed). Launched to support Korean publishers’ entry into overseas markets, this year’s event was held in-person for the first time in three years after going online for the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 Integrated Support for Local and Overseas Publishers from Pre-Site 1:1 Consultation

 to Contract Management

As the leading business-to-business (B2B) platform where foreign publishers are invited to explore and discuss with their local counterparts opportunities for the overseas sale and distribution of Korean copyrighted content, K-Book Copyright Market seeks to provide local publishers a channel for copyright sales contracts and continued exchanges and cooperation in the publishing sector. To this end, this year’s event offered 1:1 online and in-person consultations on publication exports with overseas publishers, seminars on international publishing markets, and consulting programs on publishing Korean publications in overseas markets. 

Through these promotional and consultation programs, the event helps local publishers identify overseas demand for Korean published content early, matches them with overseas publishers and distributors for business consultation opportunities, helps them build a better consultation strategy by providing details about potential consultation partners, and offers translation services for their promotional materials as well as interpretation services for business consultation. Even after the event, the Agency will continue to provide additional online support services, if necessary, for follow-up consultation, thereby exploring every means to expand the possibilities of exporting Korean published content to overseas markets.  

 53 Publishers from 12 Countries in Asia and Europe Hold Consultations with 41 Korean Publishers

 Numerous Local and Overseas Publication-Related Intellectual Property Exporters Join the Event, Boosting to the Export of Source Content

To reflect the growing interest in Korean published content around the world, the event was attended in-person by 40 publishers from 11 nations, including Japan and Taiwan in Asia as well as Norway, Italy, and Canada in Europe and North America. 

Among them, PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama of Indonesia, Kodansha Ltd. of Japan, Amarin Printing & Publishing of Thailand, and other well-known publishing companies from overseas held consultations. Interest in acquiring license rights to use publishing-related intellectual property also brought AZOTH Books of Taiwan and 10 other publishers from Taiwan, Japan, and China to the table for IP license consultations. Another 13 Chinese publishers and distributors joined the event online due to China’s quarantine requirements for inbound travelers to the country.

From the Korean publishing community, 41 exhibitors, including Munhakdongne, Sagyejul, Kyowon, and Mirae N, joined the event, holding nearly 480 export consultations over the two days. Among the local participants, Munhakdongne, Changbi, and Sam & Parkers have placed a particular focus on the export of publishing-related IP rights, adding vitality to the export of local source content to overseas markets. These Korean publishers uploaded promotional materials on their books on the English K-Book online platform (http://k-book.or.kr) ahead of their business consultations, offering a preview to their consultation partners.

Seminars on International Publishing Markets, Export Support (Consulting), and  Various Other Export and Exchange Promotion Programs

On the first day, the, the event presented a seminar to introduce the North American publishing market. In the seminar, James Patterson, Rights Sales Manager at Canadian publisher Portage & Main Press/HighWater Press, shared the current status of the publishing market in North America and entry strategies into the market. The event also offered consulting services on the export of local published content, assigning two specialists on export to China and Japan to consult with local publishers on their export-related inquiries and concerns. In addition, some 200 books from the Korean participants were exhibited during the two-day period so that overseas publishers could seek consultation on any that they were interested in without needing to make a reservation.