The Beijing International Book Fair will open Tuesday with South Korea invited as the country of honor in celebration of 20 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Some 2,010 publishers from 75 countries around the world, including South Korea, will participate in the Beijing fair, one of the four largest book fairs in the world.
During the 19th fair set to last till Sunday, 72 South Korean publishers and copyright agencies will seek ways to broaden their exports while displaying select books in the Korean Pavilion, according to the Korean Publishers Association.
In the “country of honor” pavilion, visitors will see the original manuscript of the Korean writing system, “Hunminjeongeum;” “Joseonwangjosilok,” or the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910); and the Tripitaka Koreana, dubbed “Palmandaejanggyeong” in Korean, which is a set of 80,000 wooden plates carved with Buddhist scripture. All three are listed as UNESCO’s “Memory of the World.”
South Korea will also demonstrate the superiority of the Korean alphabet Hangeul and the country’s book publishing culture through a fashion show featuring Hangeul in designs and other events.
Thirteen famous South Korean writers such as Yi Mun-yol, Hwang Dong-gyu and Hwang Sok-yong will take part in seminars and meetings with leading Chinese writers as part of the book fair, according to the association.
