By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
For most Koreans who spent their school years in the 1970s and 80s, secondhand bookstores were regarded as one of a few windows that ushered readers to a whole new world as book supply was limited and they were expensive.
As the multimedia industry evolves at dizzying speeds, however, secondhand bookstores have faded from the limelight and most people here treat this time-honored business as a legacy of Korea's past.
``When I started a used book business in 1969, right after I was discharged from military service, it was a lucrative business. But it's worsening year after year,'' said Jung Jae-eun, 64, who has run a second-hand bookstore named ``Jungeun Bookstore'' for 39 years in Seoul, in a recent interview with The Korea Times. ``This is the only thing I know how to do. My wishes have always been to perform my duties until my last breath,'' he laughed. Jungeun is located in front of Yonsei University in Sinchon, western Seoul.
He's concerned today's university students are only looking for shortcuts to achieve their academic goals.
``Unlike those of the past, today's students mostly read books filled with flamboyant skills and shortcuts, which help them reach their goals efficiently rather than digging into a variety of disciplines with curiosity,'' he said. ``For instance, students in the past used to make a comparative study of a certain subject. Thus, they frequently visited second-hand bookstores to buy several cheap books on the same subject but written from diverse perspectives. Nowadays, however, students hardly even glance at other reference books except for those recommended by their class professors.''
In the 30-square-meters store, more than 50,000 secondhand books are piled up neatly. They include not only rare books published in early 1900s when Korean was under Japanese colonial rule (1910~1945), but also foreign books in variety of English, French, German, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese and more.
Despite such a great number of books, the veteran bookstore runner answered customers' questions over the exact locations and stock conditions of books without hesitation.
He stressed ``expertise'' is required to run a secondhand bookstore.
``First, we should pay attention to customers' needs. We should also consider our stock condition when purchasing used books from suppliers. Comprehensive knowledge about books, authors, and overall background information are also essential to run a secondhand-book store,'' he said.
He called on The Korea Times readers to contact him before throwing out old books.
``Please contact me before dumping old books. This way we can prevent valuable books from being thrown away.''
His store's open all year except for New Years Day and Korean Thanksgiving Day, which falls in September. For more information, contact 02-323-3085 or visit its Website, https://www.jbstore.co.kr/