Broadcaster Kim So-young opened up about her heavy heart.
On the 5th, Kim So-young wrote on her social media, "I will end the Chaekbaljeonso Book Club service, which has been operating for about six years, with the October 2026 subscription."
Kim So-young said, "In 2020, when COVID-19 was at its peak, while worrying about ways to keep the bookstore running during a long winter with no end in sight, I devised a service that could send good books to people's homes even if we couldn't meet in person," and added, "I remember being surprised that more people than expected signed up for subscriptions. We were always happy and moved each month by the fulfillment of running a book club that made possible the 'reprint' of good books that had not been discovered yet."
She continued, "When the coronavirus eased and I wondered what goal the book club should aim for next, I met the manager who now runs the book club with me. There are so many things to attend to in operating the book club's monthly affairs. If not for the manager's devotion to books and the subscribers, the book club could not have continued until now. Thanks to that, during one of the busiest periods of my life, I was able to write a letter every month without fail."
Kim So-young said, "There is not just one reason. Although changes in various market conditions and internal circumstances overlapped and the time was coming to close the book club, I delayed sharing the news because every month, after selecting books, writing letters and hosting webinars, on my way home I felt a real reluctance to end this service and found it hard to speak about it," and added, "This is something I have pondered for a long time, but I worry it will be sudden news for our members. The book club is closing one chapter, but I will return as a reader who shares the books I am reading."
Kim So-young, who joined Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) as an announcer in 2012, resigned in 2017 and is currently working as a freelance broadcaster. She started a small bookstore using her severance pay as seed money. In August last year, the Gwanggyo branch, which had been operating for more than six years since 2019, closed due to the expiration of its contract with the hosting shopping mall, and recently she also ended the cookie business. She is currently active in a variety of fields including commerce, health functional foods and skincare brands.
Meanwhile, Kim So-young is married to Oh Sang-jin and has one son and one daughter.
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