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By Lim Jong-uhp, Senior Staff Writer

French novelist Bernard Werber is publishing a book this summer tentatively titled “Bernard Werber’s Science Graphic Novel.” Consisting of 21 volumes in all, this series is debuting not in Werber’s home country of France, but in South Korea. The project was first proposed to him by Open Books, the publisher of the series. Werber added some scientific knowledge and imagination on top of the outline for his previous novel “Butterfly,” while Korean artists provided the illustrations.

“Werber has a very clear sense of subjectivity and hates interference with his writing, but he readily accepted our proposal with this book to combine a story with scientific information,” said Open Books chief editor Gang Mu-seong. Plans are under way to publish the book in France and other countries following its debut in South Korea.

Recent years have seen an increasing number of South Korean publishing companies actively seeking out foreign writers for planned publications. Some books by writers popular in South Korea have been published here before coming out in the writer's home country, and writers have been commissioned to write books geared specifically for the South Korean market.

“Foolish Victor,” a recent bestseller for popular Brazilian writer Joachim de Posada in its Korean translation (Korea Economic Daily BP), came out in South Korea in March prior to its release in Brazil. In consideration of the massive success he enjoyed with his previous book, “Don't Eat the Marshmallow. . .Yet!” which sold more than three million copies in South Korea, de Posada gave the country its first glimpse at the new book. “Don’t Eat” enjoyed particular popularity in South Korea, selling three times as many copies here as in the rest of the world put together.

Andy Andrews, whose “The Traveler’s Gift” was a big hit in South Korea, released the book’s follow-up, “The Final Summit,” in South Korea before any other country at the end of last year, in a translation by Sejong Books.

For “A House of the Mind” (Changbi), which won the Bologna Ragazzi Award, called the “Nobel Prize of children’s books,” in the non-fiction category at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in March, the text was by Korean writer Kim Hee-kyung, while the drawings were by Polish illustrator Iwona Chmielewska. The book was planned by the publishing company with the idea of an international illustrator from the beginning.

Observers are saying this increase in the use of international writers like domestic writers can be attributed to the improved planning capabilities of domestic publishers.

Korea Economic Daily BP Team Leader Cho Min-ho said, “Because we took the lead in planning, with the idea of writing something that gives confidence to young people during a recession, the contract was completed with fewer royalty payments.”

“A House of the Mind” illustrator Iwona Chmielewska was selected by Lee Ji-won from an agency for Koreans at the 2001 Bologna Children’s Book Fair and has done children’s book work with South Korean publishing agencies for nearly a decade.

But critics are saying the increase in plans with global writers have tended to soak up the South Korean book market. In particular, analysts say the increased planning of domestic books by foreign writers can be attributed to South Korean readers’ tendency to buy the follow-up to a bestseller regardless of its quality.

Publishing critic Byeon Jeong-su said, “This is a phenomenon that has appeared as a natural consequence of the publishing market’s globalization, but underlying it is the reality of a lack of library infrastructure here that forces people to buy their own books and thereby leads to a distortion effect.”

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]