Korean Literature Braves Economic Woes

By Chung Ah-young

Staff Reporter

Korean literature is booming more than ever despite the economic downturn that has dealt a serious blow to the local publishing industry.

According to the Kyobo Bookstore, sales of Korean literature publications including poems, essays and novels dramatically increased by 35.7 percent in the first quarter over the same period last year. The number of Korean literature books sold in the same period rose 36.2 percent.

``There was an exceptionally sharp rise in the sales of Korean literature publications in the first quarter compared to the same