By Chung Ah-young
Staff reporter

Today's publishing industry faces a new challenge as digital books are replacing conventional formats. To tackle this and extend their international partnerships, some 596 publishers from 21 countries are gathering at the Seoul International Book Fair at COEX in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul through Sunday.

For this year's fair, France has been invited as the guest of honor and will display 1,800 French books from 100 publishers, and hold seminars and cultural events.

Alain Grund, president of Bureau International de l'Edition Francaise (BIEF) or the International Office of the French Edition, hails the occasion as the opportunity to prove the ever-growing interest among professionals in Korea for French publications and vice versa.

''In fact, cooperation between Korean and French publishing is really old and extremely active. Last year, 800 French titles were translated into Korean and at the same time we have translated Korean books into French,'' Grund said in an interview with The Korea Times.

Grund noted that the appellation, guest of honor, was important in enhancing relations between the two countries and to develop them in a more sophisticated way.

''First, we are exchanging views at the conference and we are seeing how similar our problems are and it's very important to see that we try to adopt the same solutions to the problems we have to face,'' he said.

The president said he shared many ideas about the current status of publishing in the two countries with local publishers in the seminar, since the digital era is an overwhelming phenomenon around the world.

''We are facing a revolution of digitizing content. Nobody knows really how it will end finally. I think what we have to do is be extremely open to the new media. It will be a big mistake to try to resist,'' said Grund.

He emphasized that the industry should not necessarily be linked with physical books. ''We have to see electronic publishing as an opportunity rather than a threat,'' he said.

In this era, there are two things for the digital content needed ― appropriate technology and distribution. ''How and who is going to distribute (is the problem.) What are the relations between the authors and readers and how useful are the publishers in the middle? We are useful for the two things. We select the content and we put it into shape. If you look at what exists spontaneously on the Internet, you realize the enormous amount of totally useless content,'' he said.

Thus, Grund emphasized that the publishers should select, give and promote it as well for easier access by readers. ''We should have readers as the main target of our efforts,'' he said.

As for Korean publishing, the president noted in recent years, the impact of Korean books on children has been dramatically increased on the international stage, particularly following the success of the Bologna Book Fair last year that invited Korea as guest of honor.

''I am particularly impressed by the taste of the Korean books, which is neither vulgar nor elitist. It's half between the two. It's very important to have such books which are aimed at the ordinary public. Asia is very close to Europe in terms of culture,'' he said.

The BIEF provides an essential service to professionals in book publishing by facilitating publishers' projects for export development, rights sales and acquisitions, and international partnerships. It is a showcase for French publishing at book fairs throughout the world and connects publishers through professional exchanges.

Under the slogan ''Read France,'' the fair organizes events with prominent figures, including Bernard Werber, arguably the most beloved writer in French literature here. Renowned for ''Les Fourmis'' (The Ants), Werber met his ardent Korean fans at the opening day together with Martin Page, a rising French author.

Marc Levy, author of ''Just Like Heaven''; illustrator Herve Tullet, winner of the 1999 Bologna Ragazzi Award, a prestigious prize for children's book illustration; Sophie Audouin-Mamikonian, known for her ''Tara Duncan'' series; and Christine Jordis, who wrote ''Promenades en Terre Bouddhist Birmanie,'' took part in the festival to meet their Koreans fans.

Also, the fair features books on the Japanese colonial rule of Korea (1910-1945), the Korean War (1950-53), the April 19. 1960 Student Revolution and the May 18, 1980 Democratic Movement.

The picture books from around the world are not to be missed. Some 200 of the best picture books of 2008 and 2009 selected by the CJ Picture Book Festival and another 50 best picture books from France, 20 Caldecott & Newbery honor books and winners of the Bologna Ragazzi Awards in 2009 and 2010, are on display. ''Picture books with themes: Tigers & the Environment'' displays 122 picture books and 20 illustrated works.

For more information, visit www.coex.co.kr or www.sibf.or.kr.