Politicians’ royalties and writers’ livelihoods

Shin June-bong
The author is an editorial writer at the JoongAng Ilbo.
Presidential elections and parliamentary general elections, held every four or five years, are peak seasons for the publishing industry. Books by prominent politicians, which are almost guaranteed to sell, flood the market. Even so, President Lee Jae Myung's royalty income last year stands out as extraordinary. In a recent asset disclosure, Lee reported earning 1.56 billion won ($1.07 million) in royalties. He is listed as the author of six books, according to Kyobo Book Centre.

Some best-selling authors sign contracts in which royalty rates increase with higher sales, but the standard rate is about 10 percent of a book's price. For a book priced at 10,000 won, the author typically receives 1,000 won per copy. Lee's royalties include earnings from e-books, a market that has steadily grown in Korea. Still, a rough calculation based only on print sales suggests that nearly 800,000 copies of his six books were sold in total. The estimate comes from dividing his royalty income by one-tenth of the average book price in 2024, which was 19,526 won.
What explains such figures? Even for a leading politician who became president, the numbers are striking. Last year was not an ordinary election cycle. Of Lee's six books, the only new release, "It Is Ultimately the People" (2025), devoted nearly half its roughly 300 pages to the process of overcoming what he described as an insurrection, from the declaration of martial law to the removal of then-President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The book reached No. 1 on best-seller lists immediately after its publication on April 15 of last year but later lost momentum. Sales rebounded after a YouTube endorsement by broadcaster Kim Eo-jun on April 30 that year, followed by a Supreme Court decision on May 1, 2025, to remand Lee's election law violation case. Purchases surged as supporters encouraged buying the book to help cover his legal expenses.
As the film industry welcomes blockbusters that draw more than 10 million viewers, there is little reason to object to the emergence of major bestsellers, regardless of timing or authorship. However, just as a single hit film cannot sustain the entire industry, the success of a few star authors such as Han Kang or Lee cannot rescue a publishing sector that remains in decline. The livelihoods of the countless writers who form the backbone of the industry do not improve as a result.
The recent launch of a writers' union at the end of February reflects this reality. Led by chair O Bitnari, the organization represents a form of collective self-help. Its existence may seem counterintuitive, given that writing is often viewed as a calling rather than labor. Yet the union includes not only literary writers but also essayists, web novelists and webtoon creators. Its members argue that romanticizing authorship as inherently impoverished obscures the harsh working conditions behind writing.
In its founding statement, the union pledged to address stagnant manuscript fees, which have remained largely unchanged for decades, as well as publishing contract practices that often disadvantage individual writers. Numerous studies have already documented the challenges faced by writers in Korea. Even so, it is difficult to believe that great works can emerge from well-fed comfort alone. Still, there may be room for society to agree on a reasonable baseline of support for authors, whether through minimum fees or fairer contracts.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is currently reviewing the introduction of a public lending right system. Though unfamiliar to some, the issue has long been a contentious one across the publishing, literary and library sectors. Under the "first sale doctrine," once a library purchases a book, the author's rights are effectively exhausted, allowing the book to be lent to users for free. Advocates argue that this infringes on authors' rights and that some form of compensation is ...