First Lady Kim Yoon-ok attended the opening ceremony of the Seoul International Book Fair 2011 on Wednesday at the COEX convention center in Seoul.

Kim visited exhibition booths for the blind, children and foreign countries and offered encouraging words to those in the publishing industry. She said that the exhibition will be a good opportunity for the industry to communicate and promote the quality of South Korean literature overseas.

The first lady pointed out that youths encounter the world and nurture their dreams for the future through good books, and raised concern over children with disabilities or a lack or resources being prevented from reading books.

This year's fair is themed "Books are one thousand eyes which see the future." The event features 571 publishing houses from 23 nations. It will be open through Sunday.