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Can a nation become an AI powerhouse without promoting reading?

Published: 04 Feb. 2026, 00:03

Shin June-bong

The author is an editorial writer at the JoongAng Ilbo.

News reports a few days ago describing AI agents exchanging posts on a private message board that mocked humans were unsettling. Even more disquieting was the claim that some of the messages resembled philosophical reflections on identity. With AI’s reasoning and execution capabilities advancing rapidly, dystopian scenarios in which intelligent machines betray their human masters no longer feel confined to science fiction.

Novelist Hwang Sok-yong delivers opening remarks at a press conference marking the publication of his new full-length novel “Halmae” (2025) at Dalgaebi in Jung District, Seoul, on the morning of Dec. 9, 2025. [NEWS1]

In Korea’s publishing industry, however, the prevailing mood appears to be pragmatic rather than anxious. The attitude seems to be that consequences can be dealt with later and that AI should be used first. Translation, one of the costliest parts of publishing, can now be done far more cheaply with AI while producing drafts of comparable quality. Few publishers appear inclined to resist.

Creative writing may not be very different. As awareness spreads that AI can dramatically reduce the time and labor required for background research, especially for fast-paced novels, the use of AI tools is likely to increase. Efficiency has a way of overriding hesitation.

Unexpectedly, it was novelist Hwang Sok-yong, born in 1943 and now in his early '80s, who stepped forward to acknowledge this shift openly. He revealed that his latest full-length novel, “Halmae” (2025), published late last year, was written with the assistance of AI. He discussed the process on broadcaster Lee Hye-sung’s YouTube channel, 1% Book Club, which aired several weeks ago.

The novel, slightly over 200 pages, is modest in length but ambitious in scope. Centered on a 540-year-old hackberry tree that still stands in Haje Village in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, it spans some 600 years of Korean history. Wandering Zen monks appear, as do episodes of Catholic persecution, Japanese colonial exploitation, the Donghak Peasant Movement and protests against the Saemangeum land reclamation project. About 50 pages are devoted to documentary-style ecological descriptions tracing how a hackberry seed carried by migratory birds from Siberia eventually took root in the village. That these passages never feel tedious speaks to Hwang’s narrative discipline.

On YouTube, Hwang explained that he was able to organize the core ideas of Martin Heidegger’s notoriously difficult philosophical work “Being and Time” (1927) through question-and-answer exchanges with AI. He said he even discussed narrative structure and stylistic choices with the system before making final decisions. AI was not merely a research assistant. In a phone interview, Hwang stressed that high-quality prompts produce high-quality responses, meaning that human writers must still possess rich internal content. At the same time, he described collaborating with AI as feeling like working with several highly capable professors as assistants.

Yet AI-assisted creation also raises troubling questions. As creative AI agents become more sophisticated, distinguishing machine-generated work from human-authored work may become increasingly difficult. If verification itself becomes unreliable, truth may ultimately depend on the conscience of the human claiming authorship. Novelist Bang Hyun-seok, a professor of creative writing at Chung-Ang University, noted that submissions to literary contests have risen recently, a trend he said appears closely linked to the spread of AI.

AI specialists predict that artificial general intelligence, capable of replacing most human abilities across social, economic, scientific and artistic domains, could emerge in as little as five years or within 10 to 20 years at most. Artists are not futurists, and the distant fate of creators may not feel urgent. Hwang suggested that in the future, perhaps only one out of 100 people with sound judgment about how to use AI will survive and follow their own path. He added that many young people now read books diligently. Bang also predicted that the ability to use AI distinctively

would become a core measure of a writer’s competence. Interpreting the meaning and value of information retrieved by AI requires reflective thinking, he said, and that capacity ultimately grows out of deep reading.

People relax at the Byeolmadang Library at Starfield Suwon in Jangan District, Suwon, on the afternoon of Aug. 10, 2025. The Suwon Byeolmadang Library is the second of its kind to open, following the original Byeolmadang Library at COEX Mall in Seoul. [KIM JUNG-HOON]

Science fiction writer Jeon Yun-ho, who holds a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from Seoul National University, offered a different perspective. Technically, he said, there is no reason to assume AI cannot possess creativity or that AI writers will never fully replace human writers. Still, he argued that humanistic reflection is essential if society is to avoid passively submitting to an AI-dominated world or succumbing to vague fears about technological change. In the age of AI, he said, the renewed emphasis on paper books, deep reading and slow reading is a paradox that is not really a paradox at all.

Worryingly, the current government, which has declared its ambition to make Korea one of the world’s top three AI powers, appears indifferent to reading promotion. The 6 billion won budget for promoting a national reading culture, cut during the previous administration, was not restored this year. Some argue that instead of symbolic spending, Korea should establish a dedicated government body for reading promotion, as France has, to systematically nurture the reading ecosystem. Doing nothing and waiting is not an option. Preparing early for the coming AI tsunami may depend more on books than on algorithms.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.