Incheon was named as the "World Book Capital 2015" at the conclusion of the selection committee meeting, which as held recently at UNESCO's Paris headquarters.

Incheon was selected "on account of the quality of its program, and the impact it will have on improving good integration of all stakeholders in the promotion of books and reading, access to books and writing in all formats to the citizens of Incheon and the Korean Peninsula during World Book Capital year and beyond".

The selection committee included representatives of the International Publishers Association (IPA), the International Booksellers Federation (IBF), the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), and UNESCO.

Says Alexis Krikorian, IPA Director, Freedom to Publish: “The number of applications received this year is one of the highest since the UNESCO program commenced in 2001 following an IPA initiative. A lot of them were very good. In that context, IPA was quite impressed by the quality of the application file submitted by the city of Incheon: a clear, exciting, and ambitious programme for 2015 and beyond as it is aiming at generating enthusiasm for books, e-books, and reading. We are very much looking forward to cooperating with our Korean member, the Korean Publishers Association. Congratulations Incheon!”.

Incheon, Korea, is the fifteenth city to be designated World Book Capital, after Madrid (2001), Alexandria (2002), New Delhi (2003), Antwerp (2004), Montreal (2005), Turin (2006), Bogotá (2007), Amsterdam (2008), Beirut (2009), Ljubljana (2010), Buenos Aires (2011), Yerevan (2012), Bangkok (2013) and Port Harcourt (2014).