With more than 12,000 registered publishers in Korea—and 300 very active ones—the task of selecting a representative group for this article was daunting, to say the least. This report is largely possible due to the efforts of Alice Moon, Eric Yang and Henry Shin of the Eric Yang agency, who came to our rescue by contacting major publishing houses, fixing up appointments, offering the use of their office for interviews and serving as interpreters when required.

By and large, the Korean book industry is doing relatively well, despite the sluggish economy. In general, it is still heavy on business, self-help, mind/body/ spirit, children's and blockbuster fiction, with most publishers aggressively developing original titles to compensate for the shortage of big books from the U.S. or Europe. For many, the one-million-copy mark continues to be elusive and seems reserved only for those two youthful fellows, Harry and Frodo.

Here, we provide a snapshot of the industry by presenting a cross-section of publishers, in no particular order.

Gimm-Young Publishers

Started in 1979 as a "yuppie" publisher targeting business professionals and general readers, this is home to more bestsellers—more than 155 titles in the last 10 years—than any other publisher in town, effectively crowning its president, Eun-ju Park, the bestseller-maker. With 2002 sales hitting $18.5 million and double-digit growth since 1999, this is one publisher aiming to stay on top of the game.

"Business and self-improvement titles are our forte," says Park. The company has translated and sold more than one million copies of Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People since its launch in 1994. About half of Gimm-Young's catalogue is translations, mainly from the U.S. and the U.K., populated by a stable of big-name authors like business writers John Kotter, James Collins and George Soros, Carl Sagan, the Dalai Lama, Michael Crichton, Erich Segal, Sidney Sheldon and Stephen King. Its latest bestseller is a German translation—Simplify Your Life—released last September and now 200,000 copies strong.

With some 30 staff—excluding those in its English-language teaching division—the company has also entered the edutainment and art-related segments. Its five-year-old division specializing in nonfiction young adult/children's titles (christened, simply, Junior Gimm-Young) boasts a catalogue of more than 150 titles. "Our bestseller is the 100-plus-title Aht! series [Scholastic/Hodder], which focuses on science, history, art, culture and literature for 9—15-year-olds," says foreign rights and international planning director Hee-kun Lim.

Gimm-Young is also working hard to popularize local authors. To date, its bestselling original works include The Complete Works of Koh Eun by the poet and Nobel Literature Prize nominee, Concerned that the lack of information on North Korea may further widen the gap between the two countries, Gimm-Young has also started to publish titles about the estranged North.

Kyowon

Publishing giant Kyowon, which has 2,500 regular staff, an army of 40,000 salespersons and more than 200 sales offices countrywide, debunks the myth that door-to-door sales in Korea is on the slide. In terms of turnover, this is the biggest publisher in town, as well as the biggest in terms of door-to-door sales. Revenue for 2002 hit $840 million—an increase of 20% over the previous year—and the company is on track to record another 20%—25% increase for 2003.

Now in its 28th year, Kyowon has expanded its business to include training facilities for its programs, and currently boasts three main offices, with one in Bushan specifically for research, development and training. Almost all of its titles are series- or program-based and focus on child development and educational needs. In total, Kyowan's catalogue has some 50 series, of which half are translations from Japan (older series), the U.K. and France. But its frontlist for the next two years will be mostly children's series and general reference titles developed by Kyowon's own editorial department.

As for export, Kyowon sold one series of 24 picture books and a series called Musical Stories to Taiwan. Musical Stories—a 10-volume series that turns hard-to-understand operas/ballets into fun-to-read pictorial pages—was published early this year, and within three days of its launch, its first 10,000-set run was sold out. This September, Kyowon will release a 22-volume series on Art and Music Masters from Italy.

Kyowon is also well known for its study program, Kumon Study, in which the company has 8,000 participating teachers and over 1.5 million students under 11 years old. Development is ongoing to create a community for its members as well as a platform for online study, games and supplementary exercises.

Sejong Books

"We published 35 titles in 2002 and are planning for 45 this year," says foreign rights director Kyung-hye Kang of Sejong Books. Founded in 1992, Sejong achieved sales of $2.5 million in 2002 and is looking into expanding its list to include audiobooks, English instructional books and children's books. "Right now, 95% of our translated titles are from English and 40% of these are business books."

Prior to the dot-com bust, Sejong was the first to publish books on the giddy digital/tech industry. Translations from the Harvard Business School list remain important, though business books now comprise only 40% of the list, which has expanded to include titles on parenting, health and fiction.

Sejong is now seeking a more prominent position in other genres, and its 2003 releases reflect this move: science and technology (Evolution and Feynman's Rainbow), fiction (The Five PeopleYou Meet in Heaven), business and economics (The Mystery of Capital and The Sales Advantage), history (Reading Pictures and Salt) and nonfiction (The Traveler's Gift). Its most successful title to date is Tuesdays with Morrie, which was released in 1998 and has sold more than 500,000 copies. The book ranked #7 on Kyobo's list last year. "I think Morrie, with its uplifting tone and inspirational message, filled the void of uncertainty left by the financial crisis," explains Kang.

Book21 Publishing

Founded in 1989, Book21 specialized in Korean corporate management/investment titles until two years ago, when it decided to broaden its list by venturing into self-help and spiritual/inspirational literature. In addition to its flagship logo, which focuses on business titles, the company also offers Ulpaso for children's books, Eclio for nonfiction, Dalgoong for literature and Culture-Line, mainly for Eastern culture.

Since its early days, Book21 has had close ties with the Samsung Economic Research Institute and the Hyundai Research Institute, as well as with consulting firms like PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Boston Consulting Group, publishing their seminal work and research papers. This relationship has done much to uphold Book21's reputation as a serious business publisher.

"We did 90 titles in 2002 and are planning 200 this year," says marketing and sales director Joong-hyun Kim. "Currently, a little over half of our titles are translated, chiefly from the U.S., with 10% from Europe and Japan." Recent bestsellers include The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch (110,000 copies) and Gung Ho! by Ken Blanchard (200,000 copies). Children's books are very strong, contributing some 17%—20% of the total market. "Previously, sales for this segment used to come from door-to-door distribution, but now, it's coming through bookstores, discounters and online stores. More growth is certain in this genre, as affluent and educated parents try to safeguard their children's future by investing more in education and starting the learning process early."

Woongjin.com

It's hard to believe that this company started with only one Internet services magazine. Now, 23 years on, it's one of the country's top five houses, a public company that boasts some 2,000 employees, plus 25,000 sales reps and tutors. The company has since subdivided into five arms, specializing in serial books (door-to-door), supplementary books, trade books, magazines and infant education. Sales were $406 million in 2002.

"We did 97 titles last year, all trade books. In total, serial books for door-to-door sales account for 38% of our turnover, while 53% came from supplementary books and infant-education programs. Trade book sales accounts for only 3% of our sales, with the rest from magazines," says senior editor Hyeng-bo Kim. Woongjin.com's trade list is evenly divided between local and translated titles. Half of its translations are from English, while the rest are from Germany, France and Japan.

The company—which introduced DK Eyewitness series, World Book Encyclopedia and Let's Read & Find Out science series to Korea—published Greek and Roman mythology titles last year to a tremendous reception, and the same goes for its titles on women's studies. "Women form the majority of readers in Korea, especially those in the 20—40 generation." So, it's not surprising to hear that the company's 2003 focus is on nonfiction, feminism/women's studies, Greek and Roman mythology for young adults and study programs for further education.

Minumsa

Sales grew 25% last year, to around $22.8 million, at Minumsa. In business for 36 years, the 90-strong company has a stable list, with a 5%—10% increase in its frontlist every year. The tremendous growth and expansion in recent years saw the company subdivide its business into four units, each with its own specialization: Minumsa (the flagship specializes in fiction and nonfiction), Golden Bough (for trade titles; it had a 100% sales increase in 2002 and is currently the largest division), BIR (for children's books, with a 20%—30% increase in annual sales) and Science Books (its smallest division).

Its rights agent in the U.S., Maria Campbell, scouts for appropriate titles to buy and translate for the company. About 30% of its rights are obtained through direct liaison, while the rest are handled by the four major agencies in town: Eric Yang Agency, Korea Copyright Center, Imprima and Shin Won Agency. Translations represent some 70% of the list, of which more than half are from English.

Minumsa's recent bestsellers include a war/historical series, The Three Kingdoms (12 million copies), the Rich Dad Poor Dad titles (2.1 million), the six-volume The Lord of the Rings (one million), The Collected Stories of Sherlock Holmes (800,000) and The Magic School Bus (1.3 million copies).

ChungRim Publishing

"We have been in the book business since 1973 and our sales have been steady," says rights manager Hee-yeon Park. The house's major successes—which make it the #1 business book publisher in Korea—are its big-book translations, which include Business @ the Speed of Thought, Jack: Straight from the Gut and The Essential Drucker. All three have sold upward of 300,000 copies.

"Overall, more than 50% of our publications are translated business books, humanities titles and nonfiction; 80% of them are from English," says Park. "Competition is very intense among publishers to get rights to big-name authors, and advances for business titles are normally much higher than those for other genres." And while Park admits to a depressed business book market, she allows that titles on personal finance, real estate investment, business books for teens/young adults, self-help titles and nonfiction are steady. In 2002, company sales totaled $8 million, and that figure is expected to increase by another 20% for 2003.

IRE Publishing

When its first translation, Walden by Henry David Thoreau, hit the bestseller list—with Kyobo promptly naming it one of the representative books of the 20th century—IRE Publishing got its big break. The title went on to sell 100,000 copies. Seven years later, the company has 25 staffers, two divisions (Tree Planting People Publishing and Dahli Children's Books), a 145-title catalogue and sales of $4 million for 2002.

The Tree Planting division came about when the Chicken Soup series, launched in 1996, sold more than a million copies. The logo specializes in spirituality, New Age, ecology and sustainable lifestyle titles. So far, 32 titles have been published—with 90% English translations—featuring authors like Dalai Lama and Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. "Our success is largely due to the generality of our titles, which appeal to the mass market," says foreign rights manager Jinny Park. "Spirituality is big in Korea right now."

Apart from mind/body/spirit titles, IRE also published Hermann Hesse's books, capitalizing on the country's fascination with Hesse, especially with his largely unknown paintings. (Korea, by the way, will have the world's only museum dedicated to Hesse when it opens in Cheju Island this fall.) Perhaps due to the influence of its female president, self-help and personal-growth titles for women have received extra editorial attention. At present, IRE's list is 50% self-help, 30% literature/human interest titles, and 10%—15% business and photographic essays. Its Dahli Children's Books division was launched last November and 20 titles—mostly on philosophical, humor and educational topics—have been published. Translation-wise, 50% of the children's list comes from English-speaking countries, 40% from Germany and the balance from Japan and France.

iEdutainment

Twelve years ago, the company started out as a computer/graphic software distributor. Later, it leveraged its name to venture into IT, communications and animation. Then, last year, iEdutainment turned its focus to publishing, targeting the children's market with original titles, capitalizing on its animation and online expertise. "Sales for 2002 reached $1 million, and for 2003, we hope to achieve $2 million," says v-p Ji-taek Hong.

Its publishing program is ambitious. "We published only 15 titles in 2002, but we've signed close to 100 titles for 2003—2004,with a focus on children's titles. The list is split 80% British/European titles and 20% American. Generally, Koreans prefer the European style of less avant-garde illustration."

iEdutainment's big sellers include Blind Kid's Drawing series which was launched in the third quarter of 2001 and has sold 30,000 sets. Its success prompted the company to add merchandising and games.

The 2003 publishing program also includes English—language titles, especially for children, and digital content suitable for distance/online learning. In 2003, major titles from iEdutainment will include Olivia Counts and the bestselling Bear Snores On. "We are also busy signing big titles like the Spiderwick Chronicles and De Agostini's Animal Kingdom series," says planning and coordination director Nae-eun Oh. "Basically, two trends in the market help us strategize our publishing program: a depressed book market, with Korean readers reaching for practical, self-help titles; and a fast-growing children's market, despite the drop in birth rate. These trends, we believe, won't change any time soon."

Yolimwon

Major restrategizing in 2000 to redefine and diversify its publishing program changed Yolimwon, which until then was focused on big-name domestic authors in the literary and spiritual/inspirational genres. Since its establishment in 1988, the company has been known as an auteur publishing house, popular for generating titles that later became acclaimed art films. With the restructuring also came a new division, Bluebirdchild, which is targeted to the booming children's book market. In 2002, Bluebirdchild released some 200 titles, mainly cartoon-based books, fairytale/folklore and encyclopedias for young learners.

Korean originals dominate Yolimwon's catalogue, with only two books in 10 translations (there used to be more), mostly from France and the U.K. Its biggest foreign authors are Robin Cook (on an exclusive contract; 16 of his titles have been translated; total sales amounted to 500,000 copies), Haruki Murakami, Thich Nhat Hanh, Simone de Beauvoir and Eoin Colfer.

Yolimwon's adaptation of the 10-volume Kingfisher History Encyclopedia (U.K.) is highly successful and now the company is moving on to the other topics in the series: animals, science and general reference. As for distribution channels, 60% of its encyclopedia sales comes through e-retailers, while the reverse is true for general titles. In 2002, Yolimwon's sales increased 20% over the previous year, and with an aggressive publishing program in place, it's expecting 10% growth for 2003.

Moonhak Soochup

In Korea, Moonhak has been home to that young wizard from Hogwarts School since November 1999 and now, six million copies later, Koreans young and old are waiting with bated breath for the translation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Translation, according to Moonhak, is underway and the title is expected to be released this winter. But the company is not just about Harry and his magic, which, by the way, cost Moonhak just $15,000 in advances. It also boasts a stable of veteran authors, like John Grisham, Sidney Sheldon and Danielle Steel. Three of Grisham's latest works—Skipping Christmas, The Summons and The Brethren—have been selling very well at the stores. "Translated fiction contributes almost 80% to our revenue," says senior manager Clara Kim and reaffirmed by foreign rights manager Sinae Kim—both daughters of the company founder, award-winning poet Jong-chul Kim.

"We are following Harry's success with more fantasy books, as well as self-help, health and educational books for children. Right now, Korean parents are buying more books—especially English books—for their children."

Youngjin.com

For most of Youngjin.com's 26 years, it has been the country's leading IT publishing company; its online site was the first Web presence by a publisher, too. Since then, it has accumulated 900,000 online members, a customer base it recently used to diversify into non-IT markets—health, lifestyle, children's books, English-language teaching materials, educational cartoons and business management. Youngjin.com published 466 titles last year in addition to a 3,000-title backlist. The company went public in May 2002.

So it seems that while every other IT publisher is wailing about the comatose computer book market, Youngjin.com is doing brisk business. "Well, our brand name and 900,000-member database have done much to push up our sales," says international manager Ann Lee. By offering members free points/miles for every purchase, the company has a thriving loyalty program going.

"E-publishing is also booming at Youngjin.com. We published 30 e-books in 2002 and are planning for 100 this year. So far, most of our e-books are manuals or certification titles, as these are easier to sell," says Lee.

Recent years have also been good for Youngjin.com's export business. One of the biggest export publishers in town, its titles go mostly to China, Taiwan, Japan and the U.S. In June 2001, a deal with Muska & Lipman saw the first Korean-original info-tech book—Photoshop 7: Mastering Artistic Design—hitting U.S. bookshelves, and M&L also distributes other Youngjin.com titles. Deals are also inked with Hungry Minds and Sybex.

TheNan Publishing

Fourteen-year-old TheNan's publishing program is driven by the company motto: "Easy, Simple and Practical Knowledge." . So far, 140 practical business, management and self-help books have been published, with many finding their way to the bestseller list, giving TheNan 7% of Korea's business book market in 2002 and sales of $4 million.

"Our target readers are professionals in their 30s and 40s. With an eye on the growing demand for practical business books, we're increasing our frontlist from 37 to 50 in 2003," says editorial director Jung-youn You. Last year, TheNan's list of 37 titles consisted of 64% original titles, 7%—10% Japan translations and the rest from the U.S. "We're always on the lookout for titles from countries besides the U.S. and U.K. because we want to try new authors and broaden our editorial scope," says You. "Going forth, we'd like to publish visionary/theoretical business management titles, such as those from New Society, practical marketing guides and Korean-style get-rich self-help books."

The company is also venturing into the teens/YA business book market, with two titles—Smart-Money Moves for Kids (Mile High Press) and What Kids Really Want that Money Can't Buy (Warner Books)—in the latter part of 2003 or early 2004. Jung-youn You adds, "The growth in business books for young adults has been tremendous. Now that credit card defaults and spendthrift youths are becoming major concerns to our government, parents are trying to educate their children on personal economics and money management. But with e-commerce doing so well in Korea, the spending spree is not going to stop overnight. That means the demand for such books won't fizzle out anytime soon."