A reader holds Han Kang's novel "The Vegetarian" at a special book exhibition to celebrate her Nobel Prize win at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, Sunday. Newsis

Following Han Kang's Nobel Prize for literature win last week and the resulting nationwide reading craze, Korea is witnessing a growing movement to restore funding aimed at promoting a culture of reading and supporting the publishing industry, according to officials, Monday.

On Sunday, the first weekend after the announcement of her Nobel Prize win, readers flocked to bookstores and libraries to get their hands on her books.

There were even lineups outside many bookstores before they opened, while the website of one major bookstore experienced a connection failure due to overwhelming traffic.

People line up at the entrance to Kyobo Book Center in central Seoul, Sunday, to purchase books by Nobel Prize-winning author Han Kang. Yonhap

Kyobo Bookstore and Yes24, two major bookstore chains, sold over 530,000 copies from Friday night through the weekend, averaging approximately 136 copies sold per minute.

Domestic readers' interest in Han appears to be expanding to literature as a whole.

According to Kyobo Book Centre, sales of books written by Han's father, Han Seung-won, also increased by 110 times over the past three days.

"Unlike other genres, literature has a significant expansion effect," said book critic Jang Eun-soo. "Typically, readers visit bookstores to purchase not only Han Kang's works but also those of other authors, so the 'Han Kang effect' will trigger a chain reaction, boosting interest in other literary works."

However, it remains to be seen whether this trend will extend beyond literature to a broader interest in reading books in general.

According to the 2023 National Reading Survey, the comprehensive reading rate, which refers to the proportion of adults who read a single book in a year, stood at 43 percent last year, which is the lowest since 1994.

Meanwhile, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration has made significant cuts to the government budget for publishing and reading initiatives.

Approximately 1.3 billion won allocated to support writers and small and medium-sized publishing companies with fewer than five employees has been suspended this year, while around 6 billion won designated for promoting public reading culture has also been cut.

Culture, Sports, and Tourism Minister Yoo In-chon pledged to allocate an additional 3 billion won to promote reading and support local bookstores next year. However, this amount merely restores the budget to 2023 levels after this year's cuts.

In response, the publishing industry has demanded that books and publishing be included in a tax support list.

"The expansion of tax credits across the publishing industry will yield enormous benefits," said the Korean Publishers Association. "Publishers will have the capacity to create content in various fields by hiring new personnel, leading to the emergence of more authors."

A coalition of 17 publishing groups holds a protest, urging the government to promote a culture of reading and support the publishing industry, in front of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's Seoul office, Aug. 17, 2023. Korea Times file

Meanwhile, Rep. Jung Sung-ho of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) proposed a partial amendment to the Special Taxation Act on Monday, calling for tax benefits for the publishing industry.

The amendment allows small companies to receive a basic tax credit of 15 percent for producing publications, 10 percent for medium-sized companies and 5 percent for large companies.

Additionally, if the publication is not an entrance examination or educational textbook but rather a work of literature or humanities, an additional tax credit of 10 to 15 percent is available. Combined with the basic deduction, this can provide up to 30 percent in tax support for producing literary books.

"The amendment aims to help competent writers make their debut by reducing the burden on book publishing costs, and to revitalize our society's reading culture," said the lawmaker.

"Despite Han Kang's splendid achievement of receiving the Nobel Prize for literature, Korea's reading rate is low," he said, "We will contribute to becoming a cultural powerhouse by creating an environment where the public can easily access high-quality published content through the passage of the amendment as soon as possible."