Former President Moon Jae-in, who volunteers as a bookshop keeper, chats with visitors at Pyeongsan Bookshop. [Pyeongsan Bookshop via Yonhap]
Former President Moon Jae-in, who volunteers as a bookshop keeper, chats with visitors at Pyeongsan Bookshop. [Pyeongsan Bookshop via Yonhap]

Pyeongsan Bookshop, where former President Moon Jae-in volunteers as a bookshop keeper, has welcomed nearly 630,000 visitors since opening, underscoring its enduring popularity.

The bookshop said cumulative visitors reached 628,769 as of Saturday, its 1,200th day of operation. Since opening on April 25, 2023, the shop has consistently drawn an average of 523 visitors a day over roughly three years and three months.

An avid reader, Moon has volunteered at Pyeongsan Bookshop in Pyeongsan Village, Habuk-myeon, Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, since leaving office. Barring a few days for family vacations or official engagements, he has shown up nearly every day at the modest 99-square-meter shop to talk books with visitors.

Moon has personally recommended 124 titles he found memorable, many of which went on to become bestsellers. Notable examples include "Abeoji-ui Haebang Ilji" (Father's Liberation Diary) by writer Jeong Ji-a and "Oerouni-kka Saram-ida" (We Are Human Because We Are Lonely) by poet Jeong Ho-seung.

Proceeds from the bookshop go toward public-interest projects. Since opening, the shop has worked to spread a community-centered reading culture — visiting special-needs schools, facilities and organizations serving underprivileged children and youth across the country, and students in remote island and mountain areas to set up pop-up bookshops. It has gifted 4,466 books to 2,122 people, along with reading journals and eco-bags.

The bookshop also runs a program donating books to small libraries nationwide to nurture a grassroots reading culture. It has donated a total of 3,950 books to 79 small libraries in the nearby city of Yangsan and 1,280 books to 40 small libraries elsewhere in the country.

In addition, the bookshop has championed a neighborhood bookshop support project, helping struggling independent bookshops around the country recruit authors for events and covering their speaker fees. The number of beneficiaries has grown consistently — 19 bookshops in 2024, 30 in 2025 and 52 this year — bringing the total to 100 bookshops supported.

Moon has also visited children's and youth organizations to present books in person and pose for individual photos with recipients, encouraging a love of reading. Through 45 such events, he has provided books to 727 people.

The bookshop's popularity was also on display at the Seoul International Book Fair. Pyeongsan Bookshop's booth drew large crowds at both last year's and this year's fair, with many visitors coming specifically to see Moon. He greeted attendees personally, held conversations and posed for photos, drawing an enthusiastic response.


pink@heraldcorp.com