By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
The Ministry of National Defense has blacklisted 23 books as subversive literature. It has banned its servicemen from reading and bringing them into barracks since July 22, alleging the books in question praise North Korea while criticizing the Korean government, Seoul-Washington alliance and capitalism.
Ironically, however, the blacklisted books have begun flying off shelves. Some on and off-line bookstores capitalized on the unprecedented ``frenzy'' by placing the publications at the forefront.
The blacklisted books include ones used in universities as textbooks, such as ``Bad Samaritans,'' ``Guerrillas in Samsung Kingdom,'' and ``A Spoon on Earth.''
According to on-line bookstore Aladdin (www.aladdin.co.kr), ``Bad Samaritans,'' written by Prof. Chang Ha-joon, was selling roughly 10 copies a day but demand has increased in recent days to reach 457 copies on Aug. 1 alone.
``There was almost no demand for `Guerrillas in Samsung Kingdom' until recently but now it's selling very well,'' said an Aladdin officer Keum Jung-hyun. ``Some published in the past had almost no demand until recently. But the announcement sparked demand for them as well.''
Publication experts said the skyrocketing demand shows consumers are very curious about what the government prohibits but critics praise.