It’s the end of another year, and we’ve rounded up the top 5 Korean books translated into English that came out in 2023 that you’ve got to check out. 

We discuss how and why we chose these books, and some of the key themes, including feminism, generation gaps and LGBT rights. This episode also features special appearances by our books reporter Hwang Dong-hee and literary translator Victoria Caudle (find her on X @nureonjongi).

The Korea Herald’s interview with Dolki Min: https://t.ly/3kA5D

Our listener Serena’s bookstagram: https://t.ly/rR1ZN 

The Digital Library of Korean Literature by LTI Korea: https://t.ly/YKlMi 

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Send us a post on Twitter/X (Beth @betheunheehong / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at [email protected] or [email protected]. 

Note: the Korean title for “Greek Lessons” is “희랍어 시간,” not “희랍어 수업.” We regret the error!

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast 

Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo)

Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)

00:00 Introduction

00:16 Our top five Korean books of 2023
01:52 Book pick 1

05:26 Book pick 2

11:06 Book pick 3

14:24 Book pick 4

16:14 Book pick 5

18:12 That’s a wrap!

18:43 A Korean book pick from our listener Serena

What happens when a ghost tries to cross the DMZ dividing North and South Korea? Author Joseph Han’s debut novel “Nuclear Family” explores themes of separated families, generational trauma and the Korean immigrant experience in Hawaii. Upon the release of the Korean translation of his book to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War in 1953, we interviewed Joseph about his diaspora experience, journey to writing fiction and more.

Happy 10th anniversary to BTS! In this episode, we dove into the BTS book "Beyond the Story” (translated by Anton Hur, Claire Richards and Slin Jung) which has been taking bestseller lists by storm around the world. 

We sat down with Dr. Areum Jeong, an assistant professor of Korean Studies at Arizona State University and K-pop expert, about her TCK roots, ARMY fandom, how BTS changed the industry and their impact on the conversation about mental health in Korea and more.

Stay tuned until the end for a Korean book recommendation from one of our listeners, Faye from the UK! Faye is based in London and also runs a website about Korean pop culture that you can check out here: https://fayefromlondon.co.uk. 

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at [email protected] or [email protected]. 

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast 

Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo)

Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)

00:17 Happy 10th anniversary BTS!

01:28 Introducing Areum

02:31 Areum’s thoughts on the BTS book

04:31 How BTS changed the K-pop industry

07:37 What sets Army apart from other fandoms

09:08 Korean Wave & the Korean diaspora: How being Korean got cool

12:14 Army’s influence beyond K-pop

15:37 “Without fans, there is no K-pop” 18:37 Why you see K-pop idols on bus and subway ads

21:44 BTS’ contribution to the mental health conversation23:18 K-pop idols & the pressure to always look happy27:06 Areum’s book on K-pop fandoms

29:30 Being a K-pop stan

31:21 What’s an interesting Korean word/phrase you’d like to share?

33:27 A Korean book pick from our listener Faye

Happy Pride! To commemorate, we sat down with award-winning literary translator Anton Hur. Anton’s translation of the queer Korean novel “Love in the Big City” by Park Sang-young was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2022.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Anton delved into how his unique upbringing shaped his career path, the current landscape for LGBT books and media in Korea, and the one queer Korean book you must check out.

We also have a special shoutout for one of our listeners, Erica. Erica runs a Korean book club in Amsterdam, so if anyone in the area is interested in joining, you can follow her on Instagram @SpeakingOfKorea!

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at [email protected] or [email protected].

📢 COVID-19 precautions were taken to ensure the safety of the production team.

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast

Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo)

Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)

As Hallyu continues to take the world by storm, including the growing popularity of Korean language learning, we sat down with award-winning Korean author Seo Su-jin to uncover the dark side of the Korean language boom.

Through her debut novel “Korean Teachers,” translated by Elizabeth Buelher and published by Harriett Press, Seo delves into the exploitative and sexist working conditions for university Korean language teachers. Based on the true experiences of herself and her former colleagues, Seo’s novel recounts the struggles of highly educated young women in contemporary South Korea.

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at [email protected] or [email protected]. 

📢 COVID-19 precautions were taken to ensure the safety of the production team.

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast 

Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo)

Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)

0:00 “Korean Teachers” is about… 👩🏻‍🏫👩🏻‍🏫👩🏻‍🏫👩🏻‍🏫

1:37 What made Su-jin write “Korean Teachers” 🍎

2:42 The dark side of the Korean language boom 🇰🇷

4:35 Student visa misuse & unfair evaluation systems

07:59 Navigating cultural differences 🌏

09:45 Sexism in the workplace

11:13 Attitudes toward sexual harassment and women 

14:23 “You’re married, why do you still work so hard?” ⚭

16:31 Surviving a toxic workplace 

22:05 Have things changed?

24:47: New books 👀📚

For our April episode, we spoke with award-winning literary translator and writer Sora Kim-Russell, whose translation of Hwang Sok-young's “At Dusk” was nominated for the International Booker Prize in 2019. She has won various translation awards, including the Shirley Jackson Award for her translation of Pyun Hye-young’s “The Hole.” Her translations have appeared in the New Yorker and Harper’s Magazine, among many others.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, we talk to Hawon Jung, author of “Flowers of Fire: The Inside Story of South Korea’s Feminist Movement and What It Means for Women’s Rights Worldwide.”

We discuss why “feminism” is such a loaded term in South Korea, the #MeToo movement, digital sex crimes, deep-rooted patriarchal gender norms and how the women’s rights movement here connects to other movements in Asia and beyond. The book is available at all major bookstores.

Hawon is a former Agence France-Presse correspondent who is currently based in Germany as a freelance journalist. She has over a decade of experience covering the two Koreas, K-pop’s rise and the #MeToo movement, for which she was shortlisted in the 2019 awards for Editorial Excellence by the Society of Publishers in Asia. You can find her on Twitter @allyjung and at hawon-jung.com.

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at [email protected] or [email protected].

📢 COVID-19 precautions were taken to ensure the safety of the production team.

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast

Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo)

In our final episode of 2022, we talk about hidden gems in Korean literature with Taylor Bradley, co-founder of the independent publishing house Honford Star.

Taylor co-founded Honford Star in 2016 with Anthony Bird with a mission to publish the best literature from East Asia. In this episode, we look back on highlights of translated Korean fiction over the past year for Honford Star, including the runaway success of the International Booker Prize shortlisted “Cursed Bunny” by Bora Chung (translated by Anton Hur). Taylor also filled us in on his personal process for selecting the “best” East Asian literature and some unexpected hits from 2022 for Honford Star.

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at [email protected] or [email protected].

📢 COVID-19 precautions were taken to ensure the safety of the production team.

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast

Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo)

Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)

In this special Halloween episode, we have a spooky Korean urban legend for you, featuring copy editor Brolley Genster.

Our main topic is the world of Korean horror webtoons. Culture reporter Lee Si-jin breaks down the Korean webtoon industry and the horror webtoon genre. We discuss what makes Korean horror webtoons unique, and some of the most prominent adaptations in the last few years. We explore the “K-zombie” genre through a discussion of “All Of Us Are Dead,” and what it reflects about Korean society.

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at [email protected] or [email protected].

“Last Ride” by scary story toon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFo1Ld7jHlk&t=3s

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast

Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo)

Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)

In Korea, fall is a season for contemplation and deep reflection. To mark the start of fall, we’ve picked two bestsellers in Korea: Baek Se-hee’s “I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki” translated by Anton Hur and Kim Ho-yeon’s “Inconvenient Convenience Store.”

Co-hosts Beth Eunhee Hong and Naomi Ng discuss why these books resonated so much with Korean readers, and connect them with broader themes such as mental health and generational culture gaps in contemporary Korean society.

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at [email protected] or [email protected].

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast

Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo)

Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)