![Pyeongsan Bookstore in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, where former President Moon Jae-in serves as a bookseller, marked its 1,200th day of operation on Saturday, the bookstore announced Sunday. Moon is pictured talking with visitors at the store. [Pyeongsan Bookstore]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/08/09/news-p.v1.20260809.928afcc1513342bfb1e997f70c851fef_P1.jpg)
More than 620,000 people have visited Pyeongsan Bookstore in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, where former President Moon Jae-in has served as a bookseller since the shop opened.
The bookstore said Sunday that cumulative visitors since opening totaled 628,769 — an average of 523 people per day.
Pyeongsan Bookstore opened on April 25, 2023, in a roughly 99-square-meter space and marked its 1,200th day of operation on Saturday.
The bookstore said Moon has come in nearly every day — except during family vacations and a handful of other scheduled absences — engaging with visitors through books.
In his role as bookseller, Moon has recommended 124 books, roughly one every 10 days, many of which have gone on to become bestsellers. Notable titles include "Abeoji-ui Haebang Ilji" (Father's Liberation Diary) by writer Jeong Ji-a and "Oerouni-kka Saram-ida" (Because We Are Lonely, We Are Human) by poet Jeong Ho-seung.
The bookstore said it channels operating proceeds into public-interest programs. It runs an outreach initiative that brings books directly to special-needs schools, remote island and mountain communities, and child welfare facilities — donating 4,466 books to 2,122 people with limited access to reading materials so far.
The store has also pursued a partnership project with struggling independent bookshops across the country, expanding a program that subsidizes author lecture fees for small bookstores unable to afford well-known writers on their own. The initiative has supported 100 bookstores nationwide through this year.
choigo@heraldcorp.com
