Writers holds press conference on opening day of Seoul International Book Fair and declares ‘Writers are also workers’

Writers from the Writers\' Union Preparatory Committee talk at a press conference. Reporter Han Soo-bin

On the opening day of the Seoul International Book Fair, where more than 470 publishing houses and publishing-related organizations from Korea and abroad participated, writers demanded that publishers guarantee their legitimate rights as workers.

About 10 writers from the Writers' Union Preparatory Committee held a press conference in front of COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on June 26 and declared that "writing is also labor."

"People often think of writing as freelance work and independent work based in our own workrooms, at our own desks," the writers said, "but in reality, it is not. In Korean society, writing work is actually precarious work, subcontracted work, and dependent work.” They added, "The Korean publishing industry's contract and royalty payment process are unclear, and the contract is often not implemented. We are trying to go through the process of pan-social discourse and institutional establishment of the conditions and rights of writing labor."

"We need a union now for all writing workers," said Jeon Hye-jin, a writer who writes novels and cartoon stories, adding that she often does not get paid on time or even late. Kim Hong, who writes novels, said, "As a writer, I think we should have a union, not only to speak out for the rights and interests of writers, but also to not forget the vivid fact that I am a worker myself." Weirae, a web novel writer, criticized, "The country should create health statistics for writers," adding, "There is a joke that one-third of web fiction writers go to visit psychiatrists, one-third have spinal problems, and one-third have metabolic diseases."

The writers also performed an impromptu performance where they wrote on large sheets of paper and tore them up to reveal the irrational statements they had heard from publishers.

The Writers' Union Preparatory Committee has been promoting the need for a writers' union since September 2023, when it held a meeting on the theme of “We are all writing workers, even if our genres are different.” More than 40 writing workers from various fields, such as fiction, science fiction, repo, humanities, academia, comics, criticism, essays, translation, are participating and plan to officially launch the Writers' Union in 2025.

On this day, the Seoul International Book Fair, the largest book festival in Korea, opened at COEX. The book fair will feature 122 publishers and publishing organizations from 18 overseas countries, as well as 350 publishers from Korea, with more than 450 programs, including market operations, book exhibitions, lectures, and signing sessions.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.