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Sales of survival handbooks increase after ferry disaster

Sales of survival handbooks increase after ferry disaster

Posted April. 25, 2014 00:54,   

한국어

With the sinking of ferry Sewol, a sentiment that “I should take care of my own safety” is spreading among the public.

The sales of books about survival techniques are increasing while more and more people share information about “how to survive accidents” online.

Yes 24, one of the major online booksellers in Korea, compared the sales of six books about how to survive disasters and accidents for one week before and after the Sewol accident, and found that the sales increased 120 percent after the accident. While the number of the books sold for one week before the accident was merely seven, the number increased to 92 after the accident. During the same period, the sales of “Survival Techniques” increased three times at Kyobo Book Center, one of the largest bookstores in Korea.

The six books analyzed includes “Survival Techniques,” “How the Survive the End of the World as We Know It,” “The Worst Case Scenario - Book of Survival Questions,” “The SAS Survival Handbook,” “When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need to Survive When Disaster Strikes,” and “How to Survive Almost All Disasters.” Choi Seong-ryeol, a marketing manager of Yes 24, said, “Clearly, an increasing number of people want to have a survival-related book at home after the Sewol accident.”

Publishers expect this kind of trend will expand more in Korean society. Prunsoop, a Korean publisher of “Survival Techniques,” plans to launch an easy-to-carry version of survival-related books including “Survival Techniques” in paperback soon for students.

Postings like “I want to know how to survive a sinking ship or bus crash” are often witnessed online. And comments such as “Always take a flashlight when go on a trip,” and “If a ship is sinking, you should come out of the cabin, stay at the top as long as you can and jump into water at the last minute. If you fall into water too early, your body temperature will fall,” are followed.

Kim Hye-sook, a professor of Psychology Department at Ajou University, said, “The Korean people are enormously shocked and their distrust of the government has risen… The government should suggest detailed measures to ease people anxiety over safety.”