Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of Korean books by analysing their "work types" based on the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) model. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 1,000 Korean books were randomly chosen from the Korean National Bibliography (KNB) 2008 at the National Library of Korea, and the frequency of each work type was investigated. Findings: Of the Korean books that were studied, 16.9 percent (single works, 2.7 percent and multiple works, 14.2 percent) were found to be multiple manifestations, and the rates of literature and social science works were relatively high. Research limitations/implications: The FRBR model was applied to a sample of 1,000 Korean books and was not representative of all Korean books. Practical implications: The usefulness of the FRBR model was found to be limited to some complex works and can be improved by applying its work types in an extended way. Originality/value: In the study, the work types of Korean books were analysed based on the FRBR model for the first time using this model. (Contains 5 tables.)