With its roots in Korean TV dramas and pop music, the Korean Wave, or hallyu, has generated great interest in Korean culture. Now, the country wants to take this chance to present other cultural areas, including publications, to the world. 

The roadmap for the development of the local publication industry, unveiled Wednesday by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and two state-run agencies, entails efforts to nurture publications as the new breed of hallyu.

“Publications ― as the core of a country’s culture ― are important elements for spreading hallyu and expanding Korean culture abroad,” Yoon Tae-yong, a director at the ministry, said at an event held in Seoul on Wednesday to brief industry people as well as the press on the roadmap.

The Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea, in its 2015 plan, said it would focus on China as the prime target for Korean publications.

Among others, the agency, which is dedicated to helping develop local publication industries, plans to provide up to 10 million won ($9,200) per book to support the publication of Korean titles in China.

It also plans to hold book fairs to promote Korea’s small- and medium-sized publishers at three Chinese cities, in the provinces of Jilin, Shandong and Shanxi in May, July and September, respectively.

The website www.kbookchina.com will serve as a platform to promote Korean books in China. The website will connect with Chinese social networking sites to spread news about Korean books and on-and-offline literary events.

The Literature Translation Institute of Korea, which promotes Korean literature overseas, aims to foster a pool of qualified professional translators through its Translation Academy. The academy’s one-year curriculum will be expanded to two years, adding more depth to the program.

“For Korean content to cater to the readers from other countries, it is critical that the translations don’t damage the original works,” said Kim Yoon-jin, director of LTI Korea. “The works have to be reader-friendly, and that is why we are focusing on educating more native speakers.”

The agency will also launch an electronic library, which collects information on Korean authors, their published works in other countries, press releases and details of literary events, for people to navigate easily through the data.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)