[Editorial] Koreans Spending More on Hair Than On Books

The average Korean household spent W10,397 on books and printed material during the third quarter of last year. That includes newspapers and magazine subscriptions, and yet newspaper subscriptions are W12,000 a month. Most people are not buying a single book each month. Even more perplexing is that Koreans are spending more on personal accessories, to an average of W12,808. They spend 5.8 times more on beauty care (W59,611) than on books and publications.

This is often explained as the result of a change from a paper culture to an electronic one, and indeed, there is an infinite and inexpensive supply of knowledge, information, and even games available online. That, however, cannot compete with the depth and quality of books or the way books help you to think and use your imagination. Bill Gates, one of the people who have led the way in this cultural change, says that it was the local library that made him what he is today.

Books are treasures of knowledge, information, culture, and the imagination. All new culture is dependent on knowledge and the imagination. The power of knowledge and information grows as the world becomes more digital and the influence of culture and the imagination doubles. That is why Korea looks to "informationization" for its future. The foundation of that, however, is being shaken. Books are being neglected, publishing houses are closing their doors, and scholars, researchers, writers, and artists – those who produce knowledge and culture – are losing their jobs.

The problem is that the sad situation cannot be turned around with one of those traditional "national book-reading campaigns." The government needs to get to work immediately on preventing a collapse of everything that provides the basis for books to be produced. Japan has six public libraries for every one in Korea, so the government needs to spend more on purchasing books, and it needs to make sure that people who make quality books do not suffer financial loss for doing so.

The Hankyoreh, 4 January 2006.

[Translations by Seoul Selection]