'Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982' is most-sold Korean novel over past 5 years

The most-sold Korean novel abroad for the past five years is "Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982" (2016) written by author Cho Nam-joo, according to the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea) on Tuesday. LTI Korea analyzed the sales of Korean..

The 10 different translated copies of the novel ″Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982″ (2016) written by author Cho Nam-joo [LITERATURE TRANSLATION INSTITUTE OF KOREA]

The most-sold Korean novel abroad for the past five years is "Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982" (2016) written by author Cho Nam-joo, according to the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea) on Tuesday.

LTI Korea analyzed the sales of Korean literature that have been translated and published overseas from 2016 to 2020. Of a total of 658 Korean works that have been translated into 37 different languages, LTI Korea compiled the sales of 75 percent of them, or 492 books in 30 languages.

Based on the sales analysis, "Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982" sold over 300,000 copies in 10 different languages. In particular, the book was a steady seller in Japan, selling more than 200,000 copies since its Japanese version was published in 2018.

Author Han Kang’s novel “The Vegetarian” (2007) sold over 160,000 copies of its translation in 13 different languages. Sohn Won-pyung’s coming-of-age novel “Almond” (2017) saw sales of more than 90,000 copies in Japan and the thriller novel “The Good Son” (2016) by Jeong Yu-jeong sold over 20,000 copies in Brazil.

Thirty-four books each sold at least 5,000 copies during the same period. Among the ones that were published in 2020, 16 of them each sold more than 5,000 copies within one year of their release. The German version of the novel “Diary of a Murderer” (2013) by Kim Young-ha won third place in the international category for the prestigious German Crime Fiction Award, or Deutscher Krimi Preis, in December 2020. It sold over 10,000 copies.

Here shows Korean bestsellers that have been translated into many different languages. [LITERATURE TRANSLATION INSTITUTE OF KOREA]

LTI Korea has also aimed to increase the number of translated publications: while there were only 127 books translated in 2017, 186 were translated last year alone. When including the translations sponsored by the Daesan Foundation, a cultural organization under Kyobo Life Insurance, more than 200 books are being exported every year.

Bestselling novels like "Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982" and “Almond” have continued to be translated into additional languages, and more and more books are seeing the spotlight, LTI Korea said.

When LTI Korea takes on projects for translating Korean works, some of them are translated without being picked up by a publisher. However, LTI Korea revealed that recently, in approximately 80 percent of cases, overseas publishers reach out first and ask that a specific book be translated before the project is initiated.

“This shows how much demand there is for Korean literature to be published overseas,” LTI Korea said through a press release. “It proves that even Korean literature is on its way to becoming ‘K-literature.’”

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]