Let's Talk Real Books Instead of 'Opening Remarks Critique' [Seomideum's Book Talk]

Hyejeong Kim, CEO of Geumeum

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo Mideum] Role reversal. In a book club, the main focus is sharing thoughts about the book. However, some people are more interested in the social aspect. They pay more attention to the people than the book itself and invest effort in human interaction. For such individuals, the book is merely a means of socializing and holds no greater value. Of course, this is not wrong. In an era when reading is declining, using books in this way is encouraging. However, it is not acceptable for true bibliophiles. For a bibliophile, the book itself is the purpose. The essence lies in discovering value, lessons, and insights from the content with the book as the main focus. In this sense, the reading platform ‘Geumeum’ introduced by CEO Kim Hye-jung is faithful to the essence. To avoid limitations of time and space, it operates online (in writing), and to prevent it from turning into a social gathering, each group is limited to 29 days. To ensure deep sharing, the use of compressed or symbolic expressions such as ‘jjalbang’ (image macros) and ‘emoticons’ is discouraged. Simple vague expressions like ‘dislike’, ‘like’, or ‘highly recommend’ are also not allowed. Participants are encouraged to clearly express the reasons for their preferences in precise text. We met CEO Kim, who is sincere about books, on the 19th.

- What motivated you to start the book club?

▲ I went to Australia for study immigration and after returning, I worked nonstop for 15 years. I worked frantically in a job chasing higher salaries for survival. It may sound like a privileged complaint, but I was relatively stable and had more invitations coming my way when I experienced burnout. I briefly considered early retirement, but I am not the type to do that. Nor did I want to reach the top of the company. I wanted to do what I liked, not just survive. While looking for an intersection that could positively impact society, I thought of a reading platform. I wanted to create a reading ecosystem community.

- I heard that ‘Geumeum’ shares book ‘critiques’.

▲ I hope various discussions take place rather than just positive comments. The media usually offers ‘ceremonial critiques.’ I understand it’s awkward to criticize authors who have worked hard to publish their books, but there really needed to be a space where people could talk comfortably about books. That doesn’t mean we want to criticize harshly. Sometimes comments like ‘boring’ or ‘really not fun’ appear, and in such cases, we ask people to explain their reasoning clearly. The reason we don’t provide emoticons is the same. Emoticons allow cute and concise expression, but we want people to express their thoughts and feelings in writing, even if it takes longer. That said, we don’t strictly restrict it. I hope people don’t feel too intimidated. (laughs)

- Do you often talk about books with your husband, writer Jang Kang-myung?

▲ Books often come up as a topic. It’s an ordinary topic. But besides my husband, there aren’t many people to talk about books with. At lunch or company gatherings, drama or sports topics come up easily, but book discussions rarely happen. Even if I want to recommend a book I enjoyed, I hesitate, wondering if people might feel pretentious. I heard that in France, there is a specific week dedicated to talking about books. That made me think that this is a kind of power. There’s no reason why book discussions shouldn’t come up naturally.

- What exactly is the service ‘Geumeum’?

▲ It’s an online space where people gather around books. Anyone can start for free by choosing a book, timing, and number of participants. There is no fixed format. You can read a certain amount daily and write about it, or just record phrases that resonate with you. Think of it as copying, summarizing, or writing resolutions in a KakaoTalk chatroom. The content is open to everyone visiting the website, not just members. In the future, results will also be exposed on platforms like Naver or Google.

- What differentiates it from existing reading platforms?

▲ It’s a free, online, text-based service. Since there are no offline venue rental costs, the user hurdle is low. Being online makes it easy for people in regions with limited cultural infrastructure to feel ‘connected.’ The important factor is that the focus is on the ‘book,’ not the people. In existing services, I often saw groups centered around eloquent or externally attractive people, where others just agree with what a particular person says. In ‘Geumeum,’ there are no insiders or outsiders. There is no university or workplace introduction. ‘My life book’ is the only self-introduction. We also removed elements like ‘likes’ that could cause power imbalances based on numbers. While I understand the appeal, popularity contests can suppress some people’s voices.

- Still, I imagine popular users exist. And there might be some cliques?

▲ Of course, good writing stands out. Also, if the group chemistry is good, people want to stay longer. However, to prevent it from turning into a social club against the original purpose, we limit the period to 29 days. Of course, we can’t restrict creating new rooms with the same members, but at least it refreshes the environment.

- How many groups are there currently? And how many members?

▲ We announced it on writer Jang Kang-myung’s Facebook on July 9, and currently, 1,970 people have gathered. About 30 groups are ongoing, and the cumulative number reaches 106. ‘Geumeum’ is open-oriented, so anyone can freely view it even without membership. The number of ‘lurkers’ is much higher.

- I heard you have five staff members. That must bring some pressure regarding fixed income.

▲ We started with five people: two developers, a university senior with startup experience, my husband Jang Kang-myung, and myself. Now two people helping with SNS marketing have joined, making seven in total. As the number of groups increased, there are more things to manage. We recently held a book-sharing event, and sending out the books was quite a task. Since we are not aiming for profit, we try to save wherever possible, but fixed costs like development and server fees are considerable. We are working on concrete revenue models to cover fixed costs and create a sustainable model.

- What is your ultimate hope for this platform?

▲ It’s fine if it serves as a whip to encourage reading or as a teacher guiding people to the path of reading. It could be a space where readers and authors meet, or a promotional space for self-published authors. The most effective marketing for a book is the voices of people who have actually read it. I hope it becomes a place full of such voices. I look forward to diverse ‘communication’ through books.