---
title: 'Project Panama Asian scale documented; Korean publishers appeal for training data disclosure'
url: 'https://securteksecurity.com/news/project-panama-asian-book-scale-korean-publishers-appeal'
markdown: 'https://securteksecurity.com/news/project-panama-asian-book-scale-korean-publishers-appeal.md'
date: '2026-10-18'
description: 'Shipping records and Bartz v. Anthropic exhibits reported by JoongAng Ilbo and JoongAng Sunday on October 18, 2026 show wholesaler Woongjin Booxen exported 165.69 metric tons of Korean language books, roughly 414,000 books, in seven shipments between March 2025 and June 2026, with Better World Book…'
taxonomy:
  category:
    - AI
---

# [Project Panama Asian scale documented; Korean publishers appeal for training data disclosure](https://securteksecurity.com/news/project-panama-asian-book-scale-korean-publishers-appeal)

   18th Oct 2026  

Shipping records and Bartz v. Anthropic exhibits reported by JoongAng Ilbo and JoongAng Sunday on October 18, 2026 show wholesaler Woongjin Booxen exported 165.69 metric tons of Korean language books, roughly 414,000 books, in seven shipments between March 2025 and June 2026, with Better World Books as buyer. The same reporting puts Taiwan's United Distribution at 563 metric tons across 16 shipments in the same programme, and Japan's Nippan IPS at at least 122 metric tons on a conservative count. Kyobo Book Centre ended similar talks after the prospective buyers refused to identify the end recipient or purpose, according to the reporting.

Separately, 158 organisations and 321 individuals had signed the Korean Publishers Society No Books, No AI national appeal as of October 16, to be delivered to the government, the National Assembly and AI companies. The appeal asks that labs record which works they trained on, their sources and the legal basis for use, and let rights holders verify it. Korea has no statute governing AI training copyright, and a 2023 consent amendment failed. The $1.5 billion Bartz settlement compensated pirated downloads, while training on lawfully purchased books was held to be fair use.

Sources: [Korea JoongAng Daily](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/lifestyle/korean-japanese-taiwanese-books-targeted-in-anthropics-project-panama-hunt-for-ai-training-material/12925754); [The New Publishing Standard](https://thenewpublishingstandard.com/2026/10/17/korean-publishers-ai-compensation-appeal/)

---

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