Taiwan guest of honor at Seoul International Book Fair

Taipei, June 10 (CNA) Taiwan will showcase its literature and a variety of art forms as the guest of honor at this year's Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF).

At a news conference to promote the event, Minister of Culture Li Yuan (李遠) said Taiwanese have embraced foreign cultures through the ages, thereby growing their own unique culture, and the SIBF provides a long-awaited opportunity to showcase it.

There will be 23 featured artists at the Guest of Honor Pavilion, showcasing Taiwan's literature, picture books, comics, documentaries and music to audiences in South Korea, he said.

Deputy Culture Minister Sue Wang (王時思) also expressed anticipation for South Korean audiences to learn about Taiwan's cultural sensibilities, while lauding the occasion as a launchpad for more future collaborations between Taiwan and South Korea in publishing, television, films and video games.

Under the pavilion's theme of reading, visitors can expect to learn about literature, lifestyles, graphics, folk culture and tourism in Taiwan from 550 books that will be showcased at the book fair, according to a statement by Taiwan Creative Content Agency, a government foundation that markets Taiwanese art internationally.

The Hokkien rock band Tsng-kha-lâng will kick off the book fair on June 18 with a performance, while 40 events featuring Taiwanese and South Korean authors and discussions among Taiwanese content creators, publishers and translators are planned, according to the culture ministry.