Munhakdongne Co-CEO Kim Soyoung Suddenly Resigns Amid Sale Push... What Lies Ahead for "Editor-Led Management"?

Resigns at the end of this month with about a year left in her term... Offers no specific reason
Founder Kang Byeongseon seeks to sell his 41.5% stake... Full acquisition also under discussion
No agreement yet with shareholders, including inaugural

Kim Soyoung, co-CEO of Munhakdongne, the country's largest book publisher, has abruptly announced her intention to resign with just over a year left in her term. Her decision comes as former CEO Kang Byeongseon, the company's founder and largest shareholder, moves to sell his stake, drawing attention across the publishing industry. Discussions are also expected to intensify over the future of Munhakdongne's editor-centered management system, which it has maintained for more than 30 years.

Exterior view of the Munhakdongne headquarters. The Asia Business Daily database.

According to the publishing industry on October 19, Kim announced her intention to resign at a meeting attended by company executives and employees that day, saying, "I plan to work through the end of this month." She reportedly did not explain the specific reason. Kim had continued her public engagements, including attending the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany recently, and employees are said to have learned of her resignation for the first time that day.

Kim joined Munhakdongne in 2005 and, after working in areas including the planning department, became CEO in January 2019. Munhakdongne is currently run by co-CEOs Kim Soyoung and Lee Hyeonja. If Kim steps down as scheduled at the end of this month, the company is expected to operate under Lee's leadership for the time being.

The resignation is drawing attention because of Munhakdongne's distinctive management system. The company has maintained what is known as the "3-3-3 system," under which an internal editor is appointed CEO and serves alternately as co-CEO and sole CEO for set periods.

Under the system, a new CEO runs the company jointly with the outgoing CEO for three years, then serves as sole CEO for three years, before sharing the role with another new CEO for a further three years. Each CEO's total term is nine years. Under this rotation system, Kim's term was scheduled to run through the end of next year.

The practice of having editors who grew within Munhakdongne take charge of management and then return to editorial work after completing their terms is considered a distinctive feature of the organization's operations since its founding. The system has been viewed as a way to pursue both commercial profitability and literary value while maintaining long-term trust with authors and editors.

Some in the publishing industry speculate that Kim's sudden resignation may be related to the ongoing stake sale. With former CEO Kang Byeongseon, the founder, negotiating with outside companies to sell all of his shares, differences of opinion with the internal management team may have come to the surface.

It has not been confirmed whether Kim resigned in opposition to the sale or for separate personal or management-related reasons. The company has also not disclosed the specific reasons for her resignation.

Munhakdongne's plan to sell shares became known on September 9. Former CEO Kang has been in contact with multiple companies to sell his 41.5% stake. According to Munhakdongne's audit report, the remaining shares consist of 51.8% held by other shareholders and 6.7% in treasury stock.

It has not been determined whether the sale will be limited to former CEO Kang's personal stake. Companies that have expressed interest in acquiring the business have proposed buying the entire stake to secure management control, making the participation of other shareholders in the sale a key variable.

Former CEO Kang reportedly met on September 23 with the first editorial board members and others who hold shares to discuss a possible sale. Early this month, he also held related discussions with the heads of Munhakdongne's subsidiaries, but no agreement was reached on selling the entire stake.

In particular, the six founding editorial board members are said to hold a combined stake of about 45%. Since this is more than former CEO Kang's shareholding, whether they join the sale could determine the outcome of negotiations. Some shareholders reportedly understand the founder's reasons for selling but have either reserved judgment on selling their own shares or expressed their intention to retain them.

There are also differing interpretations of the reasons behind the planned sale. Some in the publishing industry point to limits on growth in the book market and questions over management succession, while existing shareholders say the move is intended to diversify the business by expanding literary content into film and video, digital platforms, and other areas.

Since its establishment in 1993, Munhakdongne has grown into a major company in Korea's literary publishing market. It has published works by leading Korean authors, including Han Kang's "We Do Not Part," "Greek Lessons," and "The White Book." Through its literary magazine Munhakdongne and the Munhakdongne Poetry Series, it has helped build the foundations for the creation and distribution of Korean literature. It has also expanded into the humanities and general-interest publishing through affiliated imprints such as Geulhangari and Gyoyuseoga.

The company is also among the industry's top performers. According to 2025 publishing market statistics released by the Korean Publishers Association, Munhakdongne recorded revenue of 36.87 billion won last year, ranking first among major book publishers. Its operating profit was about 7.1 billion won.

Compared with revenue of 46.334 billion won and operating profit of 12.751 billion won in 2024, figures that reflected a sales surge following Han Kang's Nobel Prize in Literature, the numbers fell by 20.4% and 44.4%, respectively. However, both revenue and operating profit remain among the highest of any book publisher in Korea. This is why the planned sale is difficult to interpret simply as a decision prompted by financial difficulties.

The publishing industry's main concern is whether Munhakdongne's existing management and editorial system can be maintained after outside capital comes in. A new investor could create growth opportunities by adapting literary intellectual property (IP) for film and video and expanding content businesses. However, concerns have also been raised that greater pressure for short-term profitability could affect long-term investment in areas such as discovering new writers and operating literary magazines.

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