Kyobo Life engages MZ generation with 'digital library' at Seoul International Book Fair

Kyobo Life announced Friday that it is participating in the 2026 Seoul International Book Fair at Coex in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, running through Sunday, operating an interactive joint booth called "Tikitaka" with Kyobo Book Centre.

<style ref="s1">The Seoul International Book Fair runs for five days through Sunday in Coex Halls A and B1, drawing more than 100,000 visitors annually as the country's largest publishing and reading festival.</style> The name Tikitaka is borrowed from the short, rapid passing style in soccer, symbolizing the way books and people influence each other and expand the reading experience through exchange.

The joint booth was conceived around the founding philosophy of Daesan Shin Yong-ho, who established Kyobo Book Centre in 1980 with the motto: "People make books, and books make people." The phrase is inscribed on a stone tablet in front of Kyobo Book Centre and is widely known to the public. It has also been rendered into a candle keepsake to welcome visitors.

At the fair, Kyobo Life is engaging the MZ generation through a range of participatory programs centered on the "Seojae" (digital library) service within its mobile app. Seojae is a reading platform that lets users read and record books, build their own digital library, and share thoughts with others.

On the fair floor, a special exhibition looks back at Kyobo Book Centre's representative bestsellers year by year over the past 45 years. Visitors can record their favorite passages from those bestsellers in the Kyobo Life app's digital library.

Online, the company is also running a "Read Together Challenge," in which participants who have read the same book share their impressions. Visitors can choose from nine titles selected as "Summer, First Book" and 10 titles chosen as "What a Shame, This Book" — both official Seoul International Book Fair selections.

Kyobo Life has operated the Gwanghwamun Letter Board since 1991 and has consistently engaged the public through book- and literature-based content, including "Haru It Munhak," a humanities content service, and Seojae, its digital reading platform.

"Seojae is more than a simple reading-record service — it is a space where people connect through books," a Kyobo Life official said. "We hope visitors to the Seoul International Book Fair will discover the joy of reading in their everyday lives through Kyobo Life's Seojae and the Read Together Challenge."