In April, for the first time, the Foundation had a booth at the Seoul International Book Fair in Korea. The interest in The Urantia Book shown by the Koreans was impressive. A draft copy of the Korean translation was on display and, as many Koreans are bilingual, the English editions were browsed at length. Over 8,000 brochures, briefly describing the contents of The Urantia Book, were handed out during the six day book fair.
Several contacts were made with book distributors, printers, and large bookstores. Unfortunately, due to the Asian financial crisis, the two major book distributors (that formerly distributed 85% of books in Korea) went bankrupt. Nonetheless, the Foundation's representatives achieved their objectives, which were to plant the seeds of interest in the Book, to inform people that the translation would be available next year, and to meet with Korean readers. These readers, who kindly assisted at the booth, already have a Urantia Book study group in Seoul and are eager to serve and anxious to have the entire book in their language.