Local bookstores where office workers can read and buy books after work will open across the country.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Wednesday that it has selected 70 "Late-Night Bookstores" to operate the program in partnership with the Korea Publishing Industry Promotion Agency and the Korea Federation of Bookstore Cooperatives. The Late-Night Bookstore initiative extends the operating hours of local bookstores into the late evening every Wednesday, designated as "Culture Day," to serve office workers and other adults who find it difficult to participate in cultural activities during the day.
Through an earlier open application process, the ministry selected 15 bookstores in Seoul, 20 in Gyeonggi and Incheon, 2 in Gangwon, 6 in Chungcheong, 9 in Jeolla, 15 in Gyeongsang and 3 in Jeju. The selected bookstores will receive up to 2.8 million won ($2,000) each to cover cultural program operating costs and bookstore owner activity expenses.
These Late-Night Bookstores will also run a total of 345 reading and cultural programs reflecting each store's distinct character every Wednesday through June 24. "Janjanhage," a bookstore in Donghae, Gangwon Province, will host a "book talk" with poet Park Jun under the theme "How Travel Becomes Poetry," while "Chunga Book Shop" in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, will run a program exploring the works of author Park Wan-suh through its "Reading and Writing Park Wan-suh" series.
The ministry said it plans to select an additional 70 or so bookstores to join the program in the second half of the year.
