The South East Asia Book Fair is underway, running September 18-22 at the Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX) in the South Korean capital Seoul.
For anyone feeling the need to rush off to Google Maps, fearing some high-speed continental drift has been happening since you left school, no South Korea is not in South East Asia.
In fact the fair is being held in Seoul to mark 30 years since South Korea established relations with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), and in advance of a summit in Busan in November.
This is part of the Moon Jae-in government’s New Southern Policy, as South Korea broadens its regional engagement, and publishers have moved quickly to make sure they benefit from new opportunities.
400 titles will be on display from 17 publishers in six countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines.
In a press release the South Korean Ministry of Culture said,
A number of popular Korean novels translated into Vietnamese, written by famous scriptwriters Noh Hee-kyung and Kim Eun-sook, will also be introduced during the fair. All of the books, along with 900 other locally published books, will be donated to multicultural communities in South Korea after the event ends.
Via South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
