Publication Agency Selects 774 Sejong Books This Year... Expanding Distribution of ‘K-Books’ Beyond Libraries to Overseas

6,844 Titles Submitted; Competition Rates Reach 10.8 to 1 for General Interest, 6.4 to 1 for Academic Books
Distributed to Over 2,000 Libraries Nationwide, Military Libraries, and Overseas Institutions

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea announced on August 26 that they have selected a total of 774 titles — 429 general interest books and 345 academic books — for the 2026 Sejong Book Support Project. The selected titles were announced on August 25.

The 774 selected works for the 2026 Sejong Book Support Project are scheduled to be distributed to over 2,000 locations nationwide, including public and small libraries as well as literature museums. The photo shows the interior of the National Sejong Library's resource room. Photo by the National Sejong Library.

A total of 6,844 books were submitted for this year’s project. The competition rate was 10.8 to 1 for general interest books and 6.4 to 1 for academic books. Based on a needs assessment at supply locations, the Promotion Agency will purchase the selected books directly from publishers, spending between at least 8.7 million won and up to 10 million won per title.

The Sejong Book Support Project is a program that selects outstanding books published in Korea and distributes them to libraries nationwide, supporting both publishing and reading culture. This year, the selection process consisted of two rounds of review from June to August, with a total of 190 panelists evaluating qualities such as originality, completeness, and artistry.

In the general interest category, the list of selected books includes social science titles such as ‘Korea Has Been Hacked,’ ‘From Demography to Humanity,’ ‘Apple in China,’ and ‘Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, The Thinking Machine,’ as well as arts titles like ‘Tony Leung: The Last Hong Kong Star’ and ‘Salon de Gyeongseong 2.’ ‘Korea Has Been Hacked’ was one of the 139 titles chosen in the social science category.

The selected books will be distributed to over 2,000 locations nationwide, including public libraries, small libraries, and literary museums, with plans to supply about 200 military libraries as well. This year, the distribution network will be expanded to overseas organizations, including Korean language schools, Korean Culture Centers, and university libraries abroad, in an effort to broaden the reach of Korean books to international readers.

Kim Seungsoo, President of the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea, said, “We will make every effort to ensure that the selected books are widely distributed to readers both in Korea and abroad, contributing to the expansion of reading culture.” The full list of selected books is available on the Promotion Agency’s website and the Sejong Book Project’s online system.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.