Coastal coffee capital of Korea mixes beachside reading with 'text hip' trend
Summary
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization are hosting Sea 24 Hours: Book Trip at Anmok Beach in Gangneung through Sunday, pairing seaside reading with the Gangneung Coffee Festival. The five-day event draws on the “text hip” trend, in which young Koreans treat reading physical books as a stylish lifestyle statement. Organizers aim to encourage visitors to linger in the region with coastal views, coffee and literature. The book lounge offers about 200 books, activities and scheduled talks.
Key Facts
- The lounge is open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and divides its books into four themes: food, photography and leisure, local Gangneung content, and travel and coffee.
- The annual Gangneung Coffee Festival draws roughly 300,000 visitors to the city.
- Saturday’s book talk features a TV personality who runs bookstores in Seoul, including one in Haebangchon.
- On Sunday, a singer-songwriter who runs a bookstore on Jeju Island and an essayist will hold a talk titled “How many pages is the sound of the waves?” after a bandoneon performance.
- After the event, the lounge’s roughly 200 books will be donated to Gangneung’s municipal library.
A coffee sculpture at Anmok Beach in Gangneung, Gangwon Province / Korea Times file
Korea's tourism authorities are combining two of the country's biggest cultural obsessions — coffee and reading — for a seaside getaway this week on the nation's eastern coast.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) are hosting "Sea 24 Hours: Book Trip," a five-day outdoor reading event at Anmok Beach in Gangneung, running through Sunday.
The event taps into "text hip," a viral trend among young Koreans who view reading physical books as a stylish, aesthetic lifestyle statement rather than just a quiet hobby. It is paired with the annual Gangneung Coffee Festival, which draws roughly 300,000 visitors to a coastal city widely celebrated as Korea’s specialty coffee capital.
Set against a pine grove stretching along the sandy shoreline, the initiative also aims to encourage travelers to slow down, encouraging festivalgoers to linger longer in the region through a relaxed blend of coastal views, local coffee, and literature.
The book lounge, open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., offers about 200 books in four themed sections: food, photography and leisure, local Gangneung content and travel and coffee. Visitors can also design their own bookmarks, write down wishes and dream seaside destinations for display, and take photos at book-themed photo spots.
Book talks with guest speakers are also scheduled. On Saturday, a TV personality who runs bookstores in Seoul, including one in the Haebangchon neighborhood, will talk about traveling by the sea and reading. On Sunday, after a bandoneon performance, a singer-songwriter who runs a bookstore on Jeju Island and an essayist will hold a book talk titled “How many pages is the sound of the waves?”
After the event, the roughly 200 books in the lounge will be donated to Gangneung’s municipal library.
“This event was designed to blend Gangneung’s signature assets of ‘the ocean and coffee’ with the cultural charm of reading, aiming to encourage visitors to stay longer and offer a distinct coastal tourism experience,” said Lee Keun-hee, head of the KTO’s Regional Content Development Team. “We hope visitors can fully unwind with a good book amid the autumn waves and the rich aroma of coffee, creating unforgettable memories.”
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
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