Political books popular after scandal
“How Presidents Write” written by Kang Weon-kug / Courtesy of Medici Media
By Park Jin-hai
In the wake of the massive corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confident Choi Soon-sil, the local publishing industry is reeling from the aftermath.
Books about Park, including her autobiography “Despair Trains Me and Hope Moves Me” (2007) have been mocked. Due to mounting calls from angry citizens, publishers decided not to reprint it and in some cases discarded old copies.
“After the scandal erupted, we stopped printing copies of those books and removed all stock. We are in the hot seat because of books about Park,” said a publisher, who printed the cartoon version of President Park’s biography for children.
Meanwhile, political books in general are enjoying brisk sales as the scandal prompted readers to take an interest in politics.
In the first week of November, “How Presidents Write,” by Kang Weon-kug, became the second best-selling book nationwide, according to Kyobo, the country’s largest bookstore. The former presidential wordsmith detailed traits of writing skills of two eloquent former presidents ― Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Dae-jung. Due to the sudden popularity of the book, its publisher printed 57,000 copies in the two weeks following Oct. 24, when local media started reporting on the Choi scandal. In the same week, “How Presidents Speak,” written by former presidential secretary Yoon Tae-young, which compiles the late President Roh Moo-hyun’s words, speeches and memos, also rose to 18th place on the bestseller list.
Late President Roh Moo-hyun's autobiography “Fate” / Courtesy of Wisdom House
The sales of overall social and political books jumped 37 percent between Oct. 14 and Nov. 11, compared with a year ago, according to Kyobo.
In the politics category, the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea’s sharp-tongued lawmaker Jung Chung-rae’s book “How to use a Lawmaker” and former lawmaker Jeon Yeo-ok’s autobiography “I Jeon Yeo-ok” (2012), which discredits President Park as a leader, have ranked fourth and fifth, respectively. The late former President Roh’s autobiography “Fate” was also listed in seventh place in political book section sales, while Michael Sandel’s book “Justice” has re-captured the attention of readers.
“The Choi Soon-sil scandal seems to have siphoned off all other issues in the industry. Except for those political books, other sales have been lackluster. Many publishers have rescheduled their publication dates,” said a publisher asking not to be named.
As calls for President Park to resign escalate, some say the popularity of political books came earlier than expected. These books have good sales records during presidential elections. Voters will elect a new president in December 2017.
Presidential hopefuls, including former Gyeonggi Province Governor Sohn Hak-kyu and South Chungcheong Province Governor Ahn Hee-jung, have recently published essays and memoirs. “Since all eyes are on political issues, these books are enjoying brisk sales now,” said Park Jung-nam, a Kyobo official.