By Yun Suh-young
Provincial governments, public libraries and universities have stepped up their effort to help mitigate the damage caused by the bankruptcy of the country's second-largest book wholesaler last month.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Friday that the amount of support for companies damaged by Songin Books was 2.6 billion won ($2.3 million). A total of 87 organizations said they were willing to buy leftover books from Songin's stock.
They had responded to an official notice sent by the ministry to 490 organizations, including central government departments, provincial governments, education offices and universities. The notice asked for financial support for the small and medium bookstores hit by Songin's bankruptcy.
Many small bookstores in the city and provincial regions receive books from wholesalers such as Songin, while larger ones such as Kyobo Book Store manage purchases on their own. Around Songin 2,000 clients were unable to receive books and those especially dependent on Songin were badly hit.
Among the 87 groups that offered help, Incheon Metropolitan City and its eight affiliate libraries pledged the largest amount (1 billion won), while Paju City and its seven affiliate libraries pledged 70 million won. The 2.6 billion won total excludes money from the culture ministry (1 billion won) and the Seoul Metropolitan Government and its affiliated organizations (1.3 billion won). Including these, the total amount is expected to reach 4.9 billion won.
Songin declared bankruptcy on Jan. 3, failing to honor 10 billion won ($870,000 million) in matured debt owed to smaller publishing companies and other creditors. Financial damage to clients involved with Songin is 54 billion won ($47 million).