Seoul: Sales of translated Korean literature overseas rose significantly last year from a year ago, amid heightened attention following Han Kang's Nobel Prize win, a state agency said Wednesday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea) reported that 1.2 million copies of agency-supported Korean books were sold worldwide in 2024, marking an impressive 130 percent increase from the previous year.
The average sales per book reached a record high of 1,271 copies. Notably, 45 books sold more than 5,000 copies each, with 24 of those surpassing the 10,000-copy mark. The agency attributed this surge in sales to Han Kang's Nobel Prize in literature for 2024. Sales of her 19 translated books saw a significant rise, reaching 150,000 copies compared to 30,000 in 2023.
Other Korean novels also performed well overseas. Chung Bora's "Cursed Bunny" was shortlisted for both the International Booker Prize and the National Book Award. Additionally, Park Sang-young's "Love in the Big City" and Cho Nam-joo's "Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982" also showed strong performances.
LTI Korea noted that the growing readership in North America and Europe has encouraged foreign publishers to more actively introduce Korean books. These publishers' distribution channels and marketing power have significantly enhanced overseas access to Korean literature.