Book cafés in South Korea are very popular among locals and foreigners. There are many people who love to read books over a hot cup of coffee inside beautiful book cafés. Book cafés have been around in Korea since the 1980s, and have evolved ever since.

Out of the hundreds of book cafés on every corner in Seoul, there are some that are outstanding and truly make an extraordinary experience to visit.

Here is a list of book cafés worth visiting in South Korea:

1. Coex Mall’s Starfield Library

COEX Mall has recently built an immense library café from fifty thousand books, called Starfield Library. The library is extremely high and the wall almost reaches the ceiling of the COEX Mall.

Two sides of the walls in the shape of towering bookshelves are covered in thousands of copies of classic literature. Books are available for the public to read while having a warm cup of coffee, sitting down at the tables around the library. The bookshelves have golden brown edges, which makes the display even more welcoming and beautiful for visitors.

There are often book signings, lectures, concerts, and events at the COEX Mall. The Starfield Library focuses on engaging lectures where famous writers, scholars, and artists come and speak about their life experiences. One event invited Professor Jae Chan Jung to tell the audience about his unique life story.

Since the library is inside the mall, there are many activities people can enjoy outside of reading as well. There are a variety of restaurants on the lower floors, trendy clothing shops, and cafés. There are even K-pop stores that sell idol merchandise on the upper levels.

There is a wide variety of books, including magazines, classics, economics, e-books, and so much more. There is even an information booth to ask for help when searching for a book because of the variety.

2. Book Park

Book Park is also known to be a magnificent book café in Hannam-dong, Seoul which holds a grandiose collection of books. The book café is immense, in a five-story building covered in a wall of books. They have more than three thousand books in the store, and visitors are welcome to browse their collection.

 

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Most recently, the bookstore has started to hold book concerts, where musicians perform inside the bookstore. They have a mini stage set up next to the shelves, and people gather to enjoy some serenading music.

 

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#첫줄👋 – 약 3년 반 전. 첫 책 <밤 열두 시, 나의 도시>가 출간되었고, 내가 활동 중인 #체리립스 와 첫 번째 #북콘서트 를 #블루스퀘어 #인터파크홀 이 위치한 #북파크 #다윈홀 에서 진행했는데, 당시 50명이 넘는 분들이 와주었고 자리가 없어 서서 보는 분들도 많았다. – 기회가 되면 다시금 이러한 기회를 가져보고 싶다. 그때 참 좋았는데. #밤열두시나의도시 #책스타그램 #북스타그램 #책그램 #북그램 – 이번에 출시한 5번째 책 #가족같은회사에거침없이어퍼컷 으로도 이런 공연할 수 있기를. #코로나 때문에 할 수나 있으려나.

A post shared by Jeremy Kijun Cho (@jeremy.cho) on Jul 4, 2020 at 6:23am PDT

 

There are also book signings by popular authors who have meetups with fans and readers. One recent signing at Book Park was with Kaist University Professor Jae Seung Jung, for his book, 12 Steps.

The bookstore also has a café where you can buy delicious macarons and coffee to enjoy while reading a substantial book. Many people spend hours at this book café, because of the immense size. The café also holds DIY workshops, where people can make tumblers or accessories as part of a fun store event.

3. Booktique

Booktique is a trendy genre book café in Seoul that is unique for being designed like a classroom setting. The sitting area has concrete seats that look like a lecture area. The tables on the opposite side are made out of wood, and also resemble that of a classroom.

 

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The remarkable part about the café is that the theme for the book café changes every day, based on the theme of the book of choice. The café even holds lectures and gatherings for people to discuss the books.

Booktique holds night book meetings where customers can gather at the café and read all night long as a group, as well as special writing challenge workshops to inspire others to write as well.

The book café sells a variety of inspiring books such as Becoming by Michelle Obama translated in Korean, Book, What Is That by Kang Myeong Jang, and Exhalation by Ted Chiang. There are many Korean authors who do book signings and events throughout the year.

 

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4. Dasi Bookshop (Again Bookshop)

Dasi Bookshop is a very cozy book café in the Yongsan-gu district of Seoul, that is notable for selling both beer and books. The bookstore turns into a bar named Telepathy at night, and the bookstore also sells various cocktails.

There are lively, frequent visitors who stop by the book café to hang out with their friends and enjoy a good book over a drink. The bookshop also has a collection of records on the shelves.

The bookstore is darkly lit, with the coziest atmosphere reminiscent of Korean dabangs, snug cafés where they used to sell coffee and tea in the 1990s. Dasi Bookshop has long hours from noon to 2:00 a.m.

 

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비가 많이 쏟아지네요. 퇴근하고도 쏟아지면 창문을 조금 열어 놓고 빗소리를 듣다가 잠에 들어야겠습니다. 빌리 조엘 선생님의 비엔나로 하루를 시작했습니다. 온몸이 젖어버린 것 같은 기분이 들 때 들으면 좋은 노래입니다. 오늘도 다시서점 📚 / 애채 🌱 열두 시부터 여덟시까지 열려있습니다. 오늘은 하루종일 빌리 조엘 노래만 듣습니다. #애채 #다시서점 #방화 #방화동 #신방화 #신방화역 #방화동카페 #신방화카페 #신방화역카페 #강서구책방 #방화동책방 #독립출판 #독립출판물 #독립서점 #독립책방 #빌리조엘

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Some popular books sold at the store are When I Start Hating Books by Tae Jae, and The City is a Plant by photojournalist Tae Hoon Kim. The book portrays the beautiful living plants and organisms around Seoul, especially the Banghwa district. The photos are by Tae Hoon Kim himself.

5. Arc N Book Café

Arc N Book Café is an enormous café in Seoul’s City Hall district. Many visit to take photos of the arched book ceiling decorated with brightly lit and colored books. The ceiling is covered in thousands of books, and is known to be an Instagrammable spot in Seoul.

 

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⠀ [BOOK. N. REVIEW] ⠀ 서점에 가면 맘이 설렌다. 대형서점보다 동네책방이 더 좋다.대형서점 중 분위기 있는 을지로에 있는 아크앤북에 와보고 싶었는데 오늘 방문. 저녁시간이라 사람도 거의 없다. 인터넷으로 책을 구입하면 10%할인에 배달도 되지만 오늘 문득 그러다가 오프라인 서점들이 망하면 어떡하지?임대료도 내야하고 직원들 월급도 줘야하는데. 이렇게 멋진 서점을 기획하고 책 읽기 편한 의자와 문구도 적당히 중간중간에 배치한 서점의 주인이 궁금해졌다.ㅋㅋ(물론 체인이지만) 그래서 오늘은책을 꼭 서점에서 사야할거 같았다. 도서관과 책방이 많아지면 좋겠다 _ ✍ 아크앤북 시청점을 방문해주신 @kyunghwa11 님의 후기입니다. 퇴근 후 집으로 가려던 발길을 돌려 구태여 서점에 들러 책을 고르고 사기까지의 과정에 이런 마음이 있구나, 이런 분들이 계시다면 우리는 끝끝내 망하지 않겠다는 숙연함 마저 드는 밤입니다. 저렴하고 편리한 것을 이기는 어떤 것, 사고 싶은 책은 딱히 없어도 일단 가면 꽤 긴 시간 머물면서 좋았다는 기분이 들게 만드는 공간. @kyunghwa11 님께도 그런 공간이었을까요, 아크앤북은?!

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The book café is designed like a bookstore and a library, with lines of tables and chairs for people to study and read. There is also a large collection of books, including motivational books such as How to Age Gracefully by Hayashi Yukio.

The café has concert rooms where pianists and musicians come and perform in front of the book café’s audience. There are also book talk events and signings throughout various days of the month.