A total of 33 famous Korean literary works -- both classical and contemporary -- are now available as e-books in various languages, including English, French and German.

The Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI) has had 33 works of literature digitized and made available online. There are 28 classical works that have already been translated, and five new writings that were recently translated and which are yet to be published overseas.

Among the 28 classical works are the French version of “Chunhyangjeon" (춘향전), titled “Printemps Parfumé,” and the English version of “Guwonmong" (구운몽), under the title of “The Cloud Dream of the Nine,” which was translated into English for the first time in 1922 by Canadian missionary James Gale.

“The Classical Writings of Korean Women" (고전여성수필선집) includes short stories by four female Joseon writers and a travelogue by Kim Keum-won (김금원, 金錦園) (1817-?), a female traveler during Joseon times who logged trips across the Korean Peninsula, including to the Uirimji Reservoir, one of the oldest reservoirs in Korea, in Jecheon-si, Chungcheongbuk-do Province, and to Seoraksan Mountain in Gangwon-do Province.



The e-books are downloadable at the LTI’s Digital Library website.
http://library.klti.or.kr/taxonomy/term/28215

They are also available at the following sites:
https://play.google.com/store/books, https://openlibrary.org/, https://www.free-ebooks.net/.

Finally, more e-books are on their way, as the LTI plans to unveil a collection of fairy tales, “Hanjoonrok" (한중록, 閑中錄), a memoir written by Hyegyeonggung Hong (1735-1815), the mother of the 22nd Joseon ruler Jeongjo, “Haedonggoseungjeon" (해동고승전, 海東高僧傳), written by Goryeo monk Gakhun (각훈, 覺訓) in which the monk describes the lives of eminent Korean monks. There will also be a collection of ancient Korean poems in English, too.

By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: The Literature Translation Institute of Korea
jiae5853@korea.kr