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Bookers, a company owned by the family of Chun Doo-hwan’s eldest son Chun Jae-kook, files for 'Q&S' trademark

[비즈한국] It has been confirmed that Bookers, a company where Chun Jae-kook—the eldest son of the late Chun Doo-hwan—is the largest shareholder, has filed a new trademark application for 'Q&S.' Chun Jae-kook’s eldest daughter, Chun Soo-yeon, serves as an auditor at Bookers, while his eldest son, Chun Woo-seok, serves as an executive director. Bookers' main business is the publication of music-related books. The designated goods for the Q&S trademark are related to education and publishing. Given Bookers' past business activities and the designated goods for Q&S, it is speculated that the move is aimed at publishing music education-related books.

Bookers' former name was ‘Music World’ (Eumak Segye). According to the corporate registry, the company changed its name from Music World to Bookers this past February. However, it continues to use the name Music World externally, and even its website introduces the company as Music World rather than Bookers.

According to the patent information service Kipris, Bookers filed for the new trademark Q&S this October. The designated goods for Q&S include: △provision of information in the education sector, △educational services, △distribution of educational materials, △essay writing academy services, △essay tutoring services, △preparation and conducting of conferences, conventions, and exhibitions for cultural or educational purposes, △rental of books and other publications, △kindergarten operations, △guidance and training services, and △study guide publishing, among others.

Some speculate that Bookers filed for Q&S with music education book publishing in mind, as the company’s main business is music-related publishing and the designated goods are also education-focused. However, Bookers has not released an official statement regarding Q&S. BizHankook inquired with Bookers for their stance but received no response.

Chun Jae-kook previously held significant influence in the publishing industry, but his reach has recently diminished. Sigongsa, the publishing company he operated, was sold to Biosmart038460 in 2018, and this year, Book Plus and Books Libro, both founded by Chun, filed for bankruptcy one after another. While Bookers is operating normally, its scale is not as large as Sigongsa was.

Nevertheless, Bookers is still considered influential in the music education industry. It periodically publishes music-related educational books and hosts numerous youth music competitions. Because contest awards are highly important for students aiming for music colleges, many youths participate in competitions hosted by Bookers every year. Bookers has also been organizing the ‘Yeoncheon DMZ International Music Festival’ annually since 2011.

Meanwhile, some are criticizing Chun Jae-kook for focusing on his business without expressing any particular stance on his father’s unpaid fines. In 2013, Chun Jae-kook stated, “Our entire family will cooperate to the fullest extent until the fines are paid in full so that the authorities’ collection process can be concluded smoothly.”

Currently, the amount of Chun Doo-hwan’s unpaid fines stands at approximately 86.7 billion won. Following Chun’s death, the prosecution filed a lawsuit to transfer assets held by his wife Lee Soon-ja, his eldest son Chun Jae-kook, and others to Chun Doo-hwan’s name to recover the fines, but they lost both the first and second trials. Unless the surviving family members pay voluntarily, the recovery of Chun Doo-hwan’s unpaid fines is realistically difficult.