Publishers refuse to pay $264,000 penalty for missing profit reports, file court motion

The Culture Ministry may end up facing the Korean Publishers Association (KPA) in court, as the industry organization attempts to fight back against corruption allegations.

Korean Publishers Association (KPA) President Yoon Chul-ho speaks during a press conference amid a government agency demanding the organization pay 359 million won ($263,573) following alleged missing profit records from the Seoul International Book Fair, at Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Monday [YONHAP]

The Culture Ministry may end up facing the Korean Publishers Association (KPA) in court, as the industry organization attempts to fight back against corruption allegations.

According to the KPA on Monday, the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea — a governmental organization under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism — told the organization to return 359 million won ($263,573) in funding. The amount serves as a penalty for the alleged missing profit reports uncovered by the ministry, which audited KPA's operations of the Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF) during the years 2018 to 2022.

“The ministry’s now former minister Park Bo-gyun's accusations that called us a cartel, and the police investigation that followed in August, led to this notification to return profits. And the KPA has filed an appeal for this to the court,” KPA President Yoon Chul-ho said during Monday’s press conference in Jongno District, central Seoul.

The ministry in July called out the KPA, the host of SIBF, for not properly submitting profit records from the annual book fair since 2018, and conducted a financial audit of the association. Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency subsequently investigated the KPA and SIBF for violations of the Subsidy Management Act.

The KPA on Monday claimed that the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea has no legal right to demand money from the association. “SIBF is a business that the KPA has been holding firm for 66 years, not the government. So, they do not have the right to make such demands,” Yun said.

The Culture Ministry on the same day told the local press that the government partly funds SIBF. It began investigating the fair’s funds after The Board of Audit received an anonymous tip in May 2021 regarding its financials.

In the ministry’s audit in July, it found deleted and redacted records of SIBF's profits for the past five years.

“If it does file for a lawsuit, we will have to work it out in court,” said an official from the ministry.

SIBF is the largest book fair in the country and is annually run on some 1 billion won in taxpayer money. This year's fair was held in June, and some 130,000 visitors, 210 guest speakers and 530 publishers from 36 countries attended exhibitions, seminars and other events like book signings.

The KPA is Korea’s oldest and largest private-sector organization in the publishing industry, having been established in 1947.

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]