Total prize money of KRW 100 million awarded, and integrated support for export

A total of eight books to be selected, including two Grand Prizes (Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Awards), five Special Awards, and one Newcomer Award

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister PARK Bo Gyoon, MCST), along with the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea (President KIM Jun Hee, KPIPA) established the “Korea Picture Book[1] Award,” which embodies Korea’s reputation and expertise. The award aims to enhance the domestic and international recognition of local picture book authors and their works and provide integrated support for exports.

Recognizing the elevated global status of K-Picture Books, including recent significant international awards[2] and export achievements by domestic picture book authors, MCST has established a prestigious domestic picture book award and devised strategies for integrated export support.

 Aug 22 – Sept 20 “Korea Picture Book Award” contest, winners announced at the end of Nov

The “Korea Picture Book Award” selects a total of eight works with combined prize money of KRW 100 million. Among them, two works receive the Grand Prize with Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Awards and a prize of KRW 15 million each, five works receive Special Awards with President of KPIPA Awards and a prize of KRW 7 million each, and one work receives the Newcomer Award with a prize of KRW 7 million. In addition to the prize money given to the authors, an additional KRW 3.5 million is awarded to the award-winning works’ publishing houses.

Authors and publishing houses interested in participating in the “Korea Picture Book Award” can apply through the “Korea Picture Book Award submission system (https://www.k-picturebook.kr)” from August 22 (Tue) to September 20 (Wed). The eligible books for submission are domestically created picture books that were first published between January 2022 and the end of June 2023. The award-winning works will be announced in late November after a fair evaluation process by experts.

 Simultaneous support for award-winning works, overseas marketing and export

The MCST provides simultaneous support for overseas marketing and export assistance for award-winning books. It supports overseas marketing efforts through the Integrated Publishing Export Platform (k-book.or.kr) and the English webzine “K-Book Trends.” Additionally, it collaborates with the KPIPA’s annual overseas expansion support program, which includes participation in international copyright markets and translation of abstracts and samples. This backing serves to bestow honor and authority upon the award-winning writers and illustrators as creators while also offering publishing houses a stable environment for creating and publishing picture books, serving as a stepping stone for overseas expansion.

KANG Soo Sang, Director-General of the Media Policy Bureau at the MCST, stated, “As Korean picture books are leaping to the forefront of K-content, it is essential to provide a stable environment for their continuous growth.” He further emphasized, “In addition to establishing the ‘Picture Book Awards’ this year, the Ministry is taking new initiatives, such as promoting and utilizing Korean picture books in overseas libraries and introducing domestic picture book authors in global reference sources like Wikipedia, all aimed at accelerating the globalization of K-picture books.”