Too popular for its own good? Seoul International Book Fair struggles to fit everyone in.

The Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF) will return later this month. However, for many publishers, anticipation has been overshadowed by a growing concern: There simply isn't enough space to accommodate everyone who wants in.

The five-day book fair will kick off at Coex in Samseong-dong in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on June 24. This year’s edition will mark the 68th of its kind. As the country’s largest literary event, it has attracted around 150,000 visitors annually since 2023.

Actor Park Jeong-min’s publishing house Muze and former president Moon Jae-in’s Pyeongsan Bookstore gained public attention last year. In addition, a growing number of youth visitors reinforced the so-called text hip trend, in which reading and books became markers of cultural cachet.

Growing pains of a growing event

Yet the fair’s soaring popularity has brought its own growing pains, especially a widening mismatch between surging demand for booths and the limited space available at the venue.

In recent years, roughly 500 exhibitors were selected each year on average between 2023 and 2026 — a drastic increase from 195 participating publishers four years ago. As a result, a growing number of publishers failed to secure their spots and were turned away. 

“Large booth areas are allocated first, after which smaller publishers competing for single-booth spaces are selected by lottery,” an executive from a publisher said. “Only around 50 publishers were assigned a single booth in this year’s draw. That was a sharp decline from about 130 last year.”

The spaces occupied by large publishers appear to grow every year, according to the source, which eventually raises hurdles for smaller presses to participate.

Publishers also cite a lack of transparency in the exhibitor selection process and steadily rising booth fees as major sources of frustration.

"There may be an internal review process," another representative from a midsize publisher said. "But because the evaluation is largely subjective and publishers are not given a clear explanation when they are rejected, it can be frustrating. I wish the selection criteria were more transparent.

Booth fees, which were around 1.8 million won ($1,200) in 2023, rose to roughly 2.4 million won last year and have remained at that level this year.

“Once you factor in booth fees, operating expenses and labor costs, it is almost a money-losing proposition,” said a head of a small publishing house that has participated in the fair seven times over the past decade. “Although the economics are difficult to justify, it is hard not to apply as the event generates so much attention." 

Little ones, assemble!

The situation has even led some publishers to band together and organize alternative events during the SIBF period.

The Seoul Real Book Fair will be held at Nodeul Lounge on Nodeul Island, located on the Han River in central Seoul, from June 25 to 28, and the Seoul Self Book Fair will run in the Euljiro area in central Seoul between June 24 and 27.

"I was allocated a booth at the SIBF, but I gave it up to protest the way it was being managed," said Kim Jang-sung, head of publishing house Iyagikot. Instead, Kim joined the Seoul Real Book Fair as a member of the organizing team.

More than two-thirds of the 51 participating organizations in the Seoul Real Book Fair are publishers whose catalogs consist of at least 50 percent children’s books and picture books. Most are small independent presses.

The Seoul Self Book Fair, on the other hand, now in its second year after its launch last year, describes itself as “a book fair for publishers who cannot or choose not to attend the SIBF.” A total of 75 exhibitors are set to join this year.

Promises made, promises kept?

In light of the recent developments, the SIBF organizers vow to change.

“I have been meeting with publishers of various sizes and genres since taking office in February,” said Kim Tae-heon, president of the Korean Publishers Association.

“First, our priority is to successfully hold this year’s fair. In the second half of the year, we plan to create a forum where a wide range of views can be discussed together.”

Kim Tae-heon identified the shortage of exhibition space as the fair’s most urgent problem. He plans to secure the entirety of Halls A and B for next year’s event, which will expand the space by roughly 30 percent.

Meanwhile, a separate company for the SIBF was established after government funding was cut off following a dispute with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2024. The upcoming book fair will mark its second year of operation under the company without the government funding.

When the SIBF first fell out with the ministry, organizers attempted to raise donations to sustain the event but fell short. They instead established a corporate structure and raised a fund worth about 1 billion won.

The fair’s organizers said the company currently has 31 shareholders. The Korean Publishers Association’s 30 percent stake cannot be diluted through future capital increases, and profits cannot be distributed to shareholders, according to the SIBF organizers.

“The articles of incorporation stipulate that any profits must be reinvested in the SIBF and the publishing industry,” the organizers said.

In 2023, the Culture Ministry asked police to investigate what it described as suspected omissions of revenue during the Korean Publishers Association’s accounting and settlement process. The case ended in July 2025 when police concluded their investigation and decided not to refer the association for prosecution as they found no evidence of wrongdoing.

The ministry currently supports participating publishers through the state-run Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea under its purview.

BY CHOI HYE-RI [[email protected]]