Overseas sales of Korean literature last year more than doubled from 2023. Shown are the English-language editions of Korean novels at Kyobo Book Centre's Gwanghwamun branch in Seoul's Jongno-gu District. (Lee Jihae)

By Lee Jihae

Overseas sales of Korean literature last year more than doubled from 2023, thanks in large part to author Han Kang winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in October last year.

The Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea) on Aug. 6 said domestic novels that received its support for translation and publication last year posted sales of 1.2 million copies, up 130% from 520,000 in 2023.

Han's historic honor has had a huge impact on sales. Her works have been published in 28 languages in 77 editions with LTI Korea's assistance, selling 310,000 copies last year.

In addition, "Cursed Bunny" by Chung Bora, "Love in the Big City" by Park Sang Young and "Kim Ji-young, Born 1982" by Cho Nam-joo are consistent bestsellers that have sold more than 4,000 copies annually for three consecutive years.

Hwang Bo-reum's "Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop," which was published in Turkiye (Turkey) in 2023, sold over 80,000 copies there last year, while "Inconvenient Convenience Store" by Kim Ho-yeon posted sales of more than 20,000 units in Poland.

"The readership of Korean literature is expanding mainly in North America and Europe, and leading foreign publishers are more actively publishing Korean works," LTI Korea said. "The figures prove the potential for Korean literature's expansion abroad."

jihlee08@korea.kr