Employees Who Read Are a Competitive Edge... KHNP Wins Grand Prize for Reading Management

The ministry certifies 305 organizations this year, up from 20 in 2014, a record high
95% of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power employees take part in reading education; 390 learning teams operate
Nepes, Kolmar Holdings among five top award winners; reading activities also factored into personnel evaluations
All certified organizations to receive 500,000 won each to buy books from local bookstores

Some 95% of employees take part in reading education, while 390 learning organizations apply knowledge gained from books to on-site work. Some companies incorporate reading activities into promotion evaluations, while others use artificial intelligence (AI) to share employees’ reading records. More companies and institutions are linking reading not only to employee welfare but also to organizational learning and business performance.

Activities of “Reoneoseu,” a reading-based learning organization at Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), which was named the top recipient of the 2026 Reading Management Excellence Award. KHNP operates 390 learning organizations and applies knowledge gained through reading to on-site work. Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Publication Industry Promotion Agency announced on October 22 that they had certified 305 companies and institutions that practice reading-friendly management as “2026 Reading Management Excellence Workplaces” and selected 16 outstanding institutions from among them.

This year’s certified organizations comprise 88 newly certified organizations, 124 existing organizations that underwent interim reviews, and 93 organizations that were recertified. The number has grown from 20 in 2014, when the Reading Management Excellence Workplace certification program was introduced, to a record 305. The number of certified organizations has also risen steadily in recent years, from 206 in 2023 to 252 in 2024 and 277 in 2025.

Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power will receive this year’s grand prize, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award. Since 2014, the company has run “Book Learning,” a reading education program for all employees, for 12 years. It has supported shift workers and employees working overseas by, among other things, delivering books to overseas offices and providing audiobooks. As a result, employee participation reached 95% in 2025.

The company was also highly rated for connecting reading with practical work. The 390 teams in its reading-based learning organization, “Learners,” read books and applied what they learned to solving on-site problems, identifying 30 best practices. It was also recognized for extending reading culture into local communities by holding 31 humanities book concerts a year at sites across the country and organizing a reading presentation contest for young people in communities near nuclear power plants.

Five organizations received the top excellence award, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award: Nepes, the Korea Technology and Information Promotion Agency for SMEs, the Cheongju Welfare Foundation, Kolmar Holdings, and Techville Education.

Nepes has linked its “i Training” reading habit program, which has been running for 20 years, to key performance indicators (KPIs), and uses its own AI-powered mobile app to let employees share their reading records and experiences. It has also digitized the program to enable shift workers to take part in reading activities.

Employees of the Cheongju Welfare Foundation, named the top winner in the 2026 Reading Management Awards for Outstanding Workplaces, pose for a commemorative photo at the reading management proclamation ceremony. The foundation runs the “Good Morning! Book Morning” program, in which employees read together for 30 minutes after arriving at work without work-related calls or messages. Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Since 2006, Kolmar Holdings has operated a reading credit system under which employees read at least six books a year, and has incorporated participation into promotion evaluations. The company has established book cafes at 14 sites and also runs a program of donating books to mark special occasions.

The Cheongju Welfare Foundation introduced “Good Morning! Book Morning,” a program in which employees read together for 30 minutes after arriving at work, without work-related communications. The program formally guarantees employees time to read, and in 2025 all employees read a total of 394 books.

The Korea Technology and Information Promotion Agency for SMEs runs a program in which labor and management representatives read books together and executives hold book discussions. It also opens author talks to local residents and small and medium-sized enterprises, and has established a partnership with local independent bookstores.

Techville Education operates “Learning Points,” a system in which its chief executive leads monthly book discussions with executives and employees’ reading activities are reflected in personnel evaluations. The company also uses ideas raised during book discussions to improve its services.

Ten organizations received the excellence award, the Korea Publication Industry Promotion Agency President’s Award: Gyeongnam Credit Guarantee Foundation, Gyeongnam Energy, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, Dioni, Visang Education, Jeju Free International City Development Center, Com2uS, Tanabe Pharma Korea, Korea East-West Power, and Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation.

Employees of the Korea Technology and Information Promotion Agency for SMEs (TIPA), which received the top award in the 2026 Reading Management Excellence Awards, take part in a book club. TIPA runs joint labor-management reading activities and reading discussions for executives, and opens special lectures by invited authors to local residents and small and medium-sized enterprises. Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Eleven organizations, including Zenith Hospital, Korea Southern Power, and Nowon-gu Office, will receive plaques of appreciation for maintaining their reading management certifications for more than 10 consecutive years.

Starting this year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will also expand support for certified organizations. Funding for book purchases, previously limited to newly certified small and medium-sized enterprises, will be extended to all certified organizations. Each organization will receive support to purchase books worth 500,000 won from local bookstores. The ministry will also provide traveling book concerts, reading management consulting, and funding for book club operations.

The Reading Management Excellence Workplace certification program evaluates leadership by management, reading-related strategies, reading infrastructure and activities, and operational results. Organizations newly certified since 2025 retain their certification for three years and undergo an annual interim review of their operations.

The awards ceremony will be held on the afternoon of October 22 at the International Conference Hall of the National Library of Korea in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The program will also include presentations on reading management practices by outstanding organizations and a lecture by author Song Gil-young, who wrote the “Forecasting the Times” series.

Five publishing and reading platform companies—Kyobo Book Centre, Munhakdongne, Millie’s Library, YES24, and Welaaa—will participate as sponsors and provide e-book subscription vouchers and online book club memberships.

Choi Seong-hee, director-general for content industry policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, “More organizations are seeing through the reading management certification program that fostering a reading culture in the workplace contributes not only to individual growth but also to positive changes in organizational culture and improved communication.” She added, “We will continue to explore various ways to support the expansion of reading management to more workplaces.”

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