The Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF) 2021 will be held from September 8^th to 12^th via both offline (Seongsu-dong S Factory) and online (sibf.or.kr). This annual international Book Fair is organized by the Korean Publishers Association (Chairperson, Yoon, Cheol-ho) and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST, Minister Hwang, Hee). Under the theme of ‘Punctuation’, SIBF 2021 seeks to offer an opportunity for people to both enjoy the Book Fair on-site and at home. The theme ‘Punctuation’ gives us opportunity to think whether the pandemic is a full stop of our life or a comma that grants us temporary rest before we continue with our previous lives.

  Specifically for the offline programs, there will be various exhibitions, offline markets, and lectures waiting for audience in Seongsu-dong, Seoul. More than 70 publishers will take part in the offline markets and 40 series of lectures will be delivered from various lecturers, including writers and artists. More than 150 programs will give insightful experience to participants during the Book Fair.

Diverse events will provide opportunities for writers at home and abroad to meet audience virtually, including Jonas Jonasson who wrote The Hundred Year-Old Man who Climbed out the window, Han, Kang the original writer of the Vegetarian, Max Porter, the writer of The Grief is the Thing with Feathers, and Kennedy Douglas, who wrote Big Picture. Audience and participants will be able to meet the internationally well-known French writer Bernard Werber and Korean writer Jeong, You-Jeong as well via online. All recorded videos from the writers will be spoken in English or French with Korean subtitles.

Lectures and seminars will be live-streamed via Book Fair official website (sibf.or.kr), NAVER TV, and Youtube channel. People who want to visit the offline Book Fair event need to register prior to the event via NAVER. Only the pre-registered audience will be able to take part in offline events considering the pandemic. To contain the spread of the virus, real-time disinfection as well as PCR tests to be conducted to safely operate the event. There will be also a separate online copyright center (rights-center.sibf.or.kr), providing a platform for publishers with online lectures and discussions on copyright. Also, online meetings for copyright export exchanges will be provided so for those who are interested in can take part and get information.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that even during the challenging time of the year due to the COVID-19, this Book Fair is expected to serve as a venue for writers, publishers, and readers to communicate and enjoy the culture of reading books and added that the Ministry will also strongly support the Korean publication to be widely accepted and welcomed by the international readers.

For more information on the 2021 Book Fair, please visit the official website (sibf.or.kr).