Actor Park Jeong-min becomes publisher of audio book for visually impaired redears

Although Han Kang's Nobel Literature Prize win may have sparked a reading craze, it was difficult for visually impaired people to enjoy it.

To help those people, one actor, who is also a publisher began converting audiobooks into audioplays.

Cha Yun-kyung has the story.

"My First Summer, Wanju," written by novelist Kim Keumhee, is the first work from the "audiobook project" run by actor Park Jeong-min.

Park began this project to find a way to give a book as a gift to his father, who had lost his sight.

He released the audioplay first before publishing the book in paperback, targeting the visually impaired as the first "readers."

"I thought visually impaired readers might not receive books as a gift firsthand. So, I wanted to give books as a gift for visually impaired readers firsthand."

Park's audioplays are different from standard audiobooks.

They add more details and descriptions than the original audiobook released after the source book's publication.

Starting with actress Go Minsi, many famous actors participated in the project with voice acting to make a great piece of radio drama.

"While I was working on the piece, all the characters were speaking to me with my voice, although they were all different figures. Now, I can hear the perfect voice for each character."

This is great news for the visually impaired who may have limits on listening to standard audiobooks, or reading braille books.

There are not enough books in braille for the blind, and it is also hard to access institutions that possess them, so demand for audiobooks is growing.

Visually impaired readers cannot find the books they want easily. Also, they have to listen to audiobooks with an unnatural text-to-single-voice service.

"I think this is a new type of genre like a movie for the visually impaired, which makes me feel like a visual handicap is not a handicap anymore."

The paperback version of "My First Summer, Wanju" will be published for the non-disabled on May 8th.

Cha Yun-kyung, Arirang News.