hankyoreh

founder and president of the Foundation on Economic Trends

By Kim Sung-hwan, Hankyoreh 21 staff reporter

Harvard University professor Michael Sandel, 59, whose book “Justice” has sold over a million copies in South Korea, will be visiting between May 30 and June 3 to lecture and appear on television. Some 15,000 invitations have been issued for an event scheduled for June 1 at the Yonsei University outdoor theater in Seoul‘s Sinchon neighborhood, which seats ten thousand.

Previously, Foundation on Economic Trends president Jeremy Rifkin, 67, a social critic whose books include “The Age of Access,” spent a week visiting South Korea. And on June 23, Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, 63, will also be paying a visit.

These opportunities for South Koreans to meet the famous scholars they previously were only able to encounter through their work are exciting for the general public and academics alike. But how much is it costing to bring them over?

In Rifkin’s case, the “five-star” speaker’s purpose in coming to South Korea was to deliver a talk at the Global Green Growth Summit 2012, organized by the government and the Global Green Growth Institute. The costs were originally supposed to be borne by the Blue House, which sponsored the event, but the publisher Minumsa ended up paying for the visit while coordinating the domestic release of the author’s “The Third Industrial Revolution” with his time in Korea.

The costs for a visit generally include roundtrip business class airfare, an honorarium, lodging, and other stay expenses.

“The Blue House had organized business class airfare, and the publishing company ended up paying for an upgrade when Professor Rifkin requested a first class ticket,” said Lee Mi-hyeon, director of Minumsa’s publicity department. The reason for the request was that Rifkin, who suffers from arthritis and other health problems, wanted a larger seat. During his weeklong stay, he delivered three talks organized by Minumsa, KT, and KAIST, not including government events.

“My understanding is that he was paid honoraria of 15,000 to 20,000 euros [approximately 22 million to 29 million won] for each talk,” said Lee.

“He received a smaller payment of 10,000 euros for a public talk organized by Minumsa and KT,” she added.

Rifkin received honorarium payment in euros and dollars due to exchange rate differences, and was paid 15,000 euros for activities such as press interviews.

While their levels don’t compare to Rifkin’s, publishing and lecture industry insiders said it routinely costs at least 30 million to 40 million won to bring other famous scholars or personalities to South Korea, not including airfare.

Kim Jeong-hui, a team leader for the lecture planning company Mic Impact, said talks by KT to bring Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to South Korea fell through when a quote of 150 million won was given for visit expenses alone. Trip costs for Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who spoke at the May 23 Innobiz Global Forum organized by Innobiz, are known to have been around 100 million won.

But there have been cases of the burden being reduced through co-invitations by publishing companies and corporate support. Gil Publishing House chief planner Lee Seung-u, who helped organize the 2008 invitation of Paris 8 University emeritus professor and political philosopher Jacques Ranciere, 72, said the costs were covered by contributions of one million won each from three small publishers: Gil, Kungree, and b Books. The Institut Francais in Seoul paid his round trip business class airfare.

Ranciere’s talks at Seoul National University, Chung-Ang University, and Hongik University were paid for by the schools at two million won apiece.

“It cost 15 million won all together for his visit, which is absolutely on the lower end compared to other prominent scholars,” Lee said.

The costs for Zizek’s upcoming visit are also in the neighborhood of 20 million won. Kyung Hee University English professor Lee Taek-kwang, who is organizing the visit, said Zizek agreed to forgo honoraria and interview payments, receiving only airfare and stay expenses.

Some best-selling authors don’t accept anything for speaking while visiting South Korea to promote their books. Stuart Diamond, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School whose “Getting More” was a bestseller in South Korea, gave a popular lecture during his visit on May 14 without receiving any payment except for staying costs and airfare.

Sandel, who is visiting at the invitation of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, has the same arrangement: he is accepting only staying expenses and airfare, without receiving any honorarium. His visit is part of a tour to promote his latest book, “What Money Can’t Buy,” which is being simultaneously released in the United Kingdom and Japan as well.

But the honoraria and other trip costs for these prominent scholars are noticeably higher in South Korea than in other countries.

“There’s a fundamental lack of trust in the South Korean lecture market,” said Kim Jeong-hui, indicating that while many scholars trust in the publishers who released their new books, they lack a sufficiently trustworthy network in country to come purely to give talks.

“The expensive honoraria include a risk cost for the South Korean market, so it’s not easy to invite them without a corporate or other sponsor,” Kim added.

Lee Taek-kwang said, “A very big part of it is that we’ve taught [prominent scholars] the wrong lesson. When people come to Korea, they need to be getting something out of it, and so they could be asking for a lot because there isn’t that lure,” Lee added.

“Rather than just giving them a lot of money to talk simply because they’re famous scholars, we need to provide them with the opportunity to create networks with readers and scholars here in Korea,” Lee said.

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