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The best Korean fiction in translation

The best Korean fiction in translation

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If you love reading books from around the world – especially the ever-popular and growing canon of translated Japanese fiction – then the literature of Korea is your next fix.

Modern Korea, split into two nations since the war in the 1950s, has produced a distinctive style of fiction that blends the familiar with the strange, the everyday with the uncanny, sweetness with drama, and the old and the new.

From classic fables to modern bestsellers, here's our selection of some of the best books from Korea that have been translated into English.

Looking for more reading inspiration? Browse our beginner's guide to fiction in translation.

Korean bestsellers

Marigold Mind Laundry by Jungeun Yun (2024)

As an international bestseller and books-podcast host, Jungeun Yun knows how to tickle the reader. A girl from a village where it’s always spring or autumn – never too hot, never too cold – has special powers which enable her to set up a “mind laundry” to solve visitors’ problems. “What if it’s possible to wash away your regrets, the pain crusted into stubborn stains?” In the tradition of feel-good fiction like What You Are Looking For Is In The Library, the book takes us through the lives of people who want to regain their happiness – a scandal-hit influencer, a man still traumatised by childhood bullying, and more – but as they will also lose their memories of the events, will it be worth it? Reading this book is like bingeing on your favourite box set. (Translated by Shanna Tan)

Plant Lady by Minyoung Kang (2026)

A fun take on the problem-solving genre, this novel introduces us to Yoohee, who has made a haven for herself in her newly opened plant shop. It’s a safe place for her and for the women who come seeking help, but others might not be so lucky. The women who visit all have rotten men causing them trouble: abusers, drinkers, workplace stalkers – and Yoohee might just be able to help. After all, “every garden needs weeding” and “bad men make excellent fertiliser”. Once the police take an interest in what exactly is being fed into the woodcutting machine, things really start to get tricky, but this is a story that never loses its sense of mischievous glee. (Translated by Shanna Tan)

Contemporary and literary fiction

The Trunk by Kim Ryeo-ryeong (2023)

“Marriage sounds exhausting,” says the narrator of this satirical novel. In this novel, society has a solution for that: the wealthy can rent a spouse for a fixed period, from a business called New Marriage (NM). The idea is that, if marriage is so exhausting, why not end it before both parties get bored, angry or resentful? The heroine of the story is Inji, who works for NM and has been asked back for a second period of marriage by one of her former “husbands” – a job that begins to unearth the darker side of her past and her employer. Hailed for its intriguing premise and gripping plot, The Trunk is a wide-ranging exploration of friendship and work, as well as love. (Translated by The KoLab)

Greek Lessons by Han Kang (2023)

This novel, by the 2024 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, represents a different yet well-established type of modern Korean fiction: one with an air of tantalising mystery that the reader needs to take slowly for best effect. (There are also moments of shock that we’re used to from Han: one character gets whacked in the face by a block of wood, for instance.) At its heart is a high-concept story: a young woman who finds herself unable to speak takes a course in ancient Greek by a teacher who is losing his sight. This is a book about complexity in communication, with themes of darkness versus light, and the difficulties women face in society. (Translated by Deborah Smith and e. yaewon)

The Poet by Yi Mun-Yol (1992)

The hero of this Korean bestseller is the real-life 19th-century poet Kim Pyong-yon. “As my hair grew longer,” he writes at the start of his story, “my fortunes travelled a rough road.” You can say that again: Kim’s grandfather was executed as a traitor to the country, and this terrible act echoed down the generations. Unable to escape his family's reputation, Kim becomes a wandering poet, and the story follows his attempts to pursue a new life alongside a blunt portrayal of the corruption in 19th-century Korea. The story is personal as well as political for Yi Mun-yol: his own father was seen as a traitor after abandoning his family and defecting to North Korea in the 1950s. His son made literature from his loss. (Translated by Brother Anthony Teague)

Healing and feel-good Korean fiction

Soyangri Book Kitchen by Kim Jee Hye (2022)

Books, cats and coffee shops remain the main dispensers of wisdom in Korean feel-good novels, just as they are in Japanese fiction. This book offers a double-whammy of a bookshop where people can also eat comfort food and heal their suffering – a sick lawyer, a fallen celebrity – and the book kitchen offers them somewhere to rest. After all, sometimes that’s all we need. The author, Kim Jee Hye, even owns her own bookshop (brilliantly named Walking on the Clouds), so she knows what she’s talking about. (Translated by Shanna Tan)

The Healing Season of Pottery by Yeon Somin (2024)

But here’s a new place to find healing, on top of all the others above. Jungmin, burned out and tired after too much work and not enough life, discovers a pottery workshop – which also supplies coffee, of course. This book not only introduces new characters – a student who wants to start his own business; the father of a childhood friend – but also focuses on Jungmin’s own story, as she discovers her new community and begins to write her own stories. “Whether it’s pottery or life,” she’s told, “it takes more than one attempt for them to come out right.” (Translated by Clare Richards)

Classic Korean literature

The Nine Cloud Dream by Kim Man-jung (1687)

This Korean classic is a doubly historical novel, written in the 17th century and set in Tang-era China 700 years earlier. It is, in large part, a fantasy-like fairytale of reincarnation, where a monk gives in to the temptations of the flesh with no fewer than eight young fairy women. He’s kicked out of this life and reincarnated, condemned to start all over again. There are more twists: his new life is one of growing fortune and success, but a journey of self-actualisation highlights the murky distinction between dreams and reality.

The Nine Cloud Dream is also inspired by the infighting and betrayals of King's court where author Kim Man-jung lived and worked, making it a coming-of-age story, a warning from history and a moral education. (Translated by Heinz Insu Fenkl)

The Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories, edited by Bruce Fulton (2023)

This wide-ranging anthology includes fiction from 1934 to 2013, covering all aspects of modern Korea, as well as its enduring traditions. Some stories portray a highly conformist society where even being left-handed is against the norm. The prolific Ch’ae Manshik’s story A Man Called Hǔngbo, meanwhile, adapts a classic tale of two brothers, one helpless and innocent, the other crooked and powerful, and shows that goodness doesn’t always win out. In later stories, themes of gender and society are prevalent: in Pak Wansǒ’s Winter Outing, a modern wife’s discontent is linked to the Korean war (a recurring topic in the book); in O Chǒnghǔi’s Wayfarer, a woman stabs a burglar and then has to rebuild her life. Its author says she values writing “that feels truthful but leaves her ill at ease”, a quality any fan of modern Korean fiction will recognise.

The Story of Hong Gildong

This 19th-century story is so legendary in South Korea that it has become a genre in itself, adapted in countless ways. At the heart is a Robin Hood-style character, Hong Gildong, who has been ousted from his place in high society and turns to a life of noble crime instead, robbing and plundering for the benefit of the poor. Magic powers help – he can “summon supernatural spirits and control the wind and rain” – and the result is a flurry of revenge, sword fights, beheadings, and even love, as our hero marries one of his rescued hostages – and brings two other women along as well. Hong Gildong, in the words of translator Minsoo Kang, is “a genuine native superhero”. Now, with this 2016 translated edition, English readers can cheer him on too. (Translated by Minsoo Kang)

Korean romance books

Under the Oak Tree by Suji Kim (2024)

If the ever-growing genre of romance is your bag, this multi-genre series could be your next passion. It started out as a webnovel and has now been published in print and as a comic. Under the Oak Tree gives a modern take on classic romance tropes: the noble family (headed by Duke Croyso) attempting to control the love life of their daughter (Lady Maximilian) with a forced marriage to one of her father’s cronies (Sir Riftan). But what happens when he falls in love with someone else, just as Lady Max finds herself warming to him? With multiple volumes to go, and more to come, this series will keep you company for a long time.

Cherry Blossoms After Winter by Bamwoo (2024)

Perfect for fans of Heartstopper, this series is the novelisation of the popular BL (boys’ love) K-drama. The two protagonists are polar opposites: confident Taesung and meek Haebom were thrown together early in life, when Haebom’s parents died and he moved in with Taesun’s family. Taesun didn’t want Haebom there, for reasons that soon become clear. The slow burn of the story shows how their cooled friendship thaws out once Taesung defends Haebom against bullies at school, and slowly hits all the marks BL fans will want to see.

Father, I Don’t Want This Marriage by Hong Heesu (2024)

The freshness in this series comes from the central character of Juvelian: she’s the duke’s daughter, and such a villainess that when she’s accused of poisoning another young noblewoman, her father washes his hands of her and leaves her to die a traitor’s death. But – this is a romantasy series, after all – she comes back to life and must repair her reputation. The series runs with all the dreams, schemes and grudges that follow.

Frequently asked questions

What are some popular genres of Korean books?

Among the most widely read genres of Korean fiction are stories of young people’s modern lives – especially women-centred and queer stories – and “healing fiction” that has also been popular in Japanese literature. The growth in romantasy worldwide, with elements of healing fiction, is also a major current in modern Korean fiction, such as the Under the Oak Tree series.

Who are some famous Korean authors?

As well as the writers whose books feature in this list contemporary authors with huge followings (both in Korea and internationally) include Bora Chung, whose short story collection Cursed Bunny is weird and funny; Cheon Myeong-kwan, whose satirical novel Whale is indescribably bonkers; and Sang Young Park, whose Love in the Big City is a queer modern classic.

Which Korean author won the 2024 Nobel Prize in literature?

The Korean author Han Kang won the Nobel Prize in 2024 for her “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.” The prize is awarded for an author’s whole body of work, but her books The Vegetarian and Greek Lessons are among her most acclaimed.

Why read Korean literature?

Korean literature is an essential part of the growing influence of east Asian culture across the world, from K-pop to K-dramas. It brings an outside influence which is both modern and steeped in cultural tradition. Korean writers are gaining more and more influence and recognition internationally, such as Han Kang, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2024.

The best Korean fiction in translation

Korean bestsellers

Contemporary and literary fiction

Must-read classics in translation

A beginner’s guide to translated fiction

The best Japanese fiction in translation

Healing and feel-good Korean fiction

Classic Korean literature

Korean romance books

100 must-read classics, as chosen by our readers

A beginner’s guide to romantasy

Frequently asked questions

The best Japanese fiction in translation

Must-read classics in translation

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