Hidden promoters of Korean literature

Shin Kyung-sook's "Please Look After Mom" and Han Kang's "The Vegetarian." / Courtesy of KL Management

This is the third of a four-part series on the importance of translation in globalizing Korean culture. ― ED.

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Joseph Lee, president of Korean Literary (KL) Management

Behind the scenes supporters helped novelist Han Kang reach beyond a Korean audience. Without them, she would not have clinched the coveted Man Booker International Prize.

Joseph Lee, president of Korean Literary (KL) Management who liaised between the author and international publishers, is one of them.

Lee's Seoul-based literary agency exports Korean literature to the world. Many Korean novels, including Shin Kyung-sook's million-seller "Please Look After Mom" and Kim Young-ha's "I Have the Right to Destroy Myself," have passed through Lee's hands before spreading abroad.

"I always read books, looking for the right one. I check new books from authors who work with my agency or sometimes purchase other books that interest me. That is the first step of everything," Lee said at a recent interview with The Korea Times.

"I just read the book ― half from the point of view of a reader and half from an agent. The most important thing is this almost instinctive, immediate appeal. Before analyzing the book in the sense of business, I as a reader should be attracted to the book," Lee said.

Lee does not classify books based on literary or commercial value but rather appraises overall quality.

"A book can have a strong literary or commercial inclination, but it is just a characteristic of the book. It does not make me decide whether I want to sell it internationally or not."

Lee began his career as a literary agent unexpectedly. He graduated from the College of English at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and majored in English Language and Literature at Kyung Hee University. The English major found a job at Imprima Korea, one of Korea's leading literary agencies and it led him to the world of publishing.

However, instead of importing foreign publications into Korea, Lee became more interested in introducing Korean literature to the world and started his own company.

"I have read literary works representing all countries of the world and studied where they stand in the international market. So I can almost feel it when I read any book," Lee said.

He admitted that such decision is not completely logical as the agent adds his subjective and intuitive opinion when making a decision.

"I have discerning eyes from experience. Before introducing Korean literature overseas, I researched world literature thoroughly ― whether it has universal themes, where it is positioned in the global market or literary world, how much it achieved in the context of literary and artistic value as well as popular appeal," Lee said.

When the agent decides that a book has a broad appeal beyond the Korean Peninsula, Lee sounds his partner agents' opinions. As a literary agent, Lee has a web-like global network, connecting publishing agents like him across the globe.

"I would briefly tell my partner agent about the book and the author as the local agent is the one who best knows one's market and who has to sell the book there. The partnership begins from respecting each other's domain," Lee said.

It would be inefficient and unprofessional to travel to some 30 countries by himself to sell the book. So he is in partnerships with local agents in the United States, France, China and many more countries.

When the two agree that the book stands a chance, Lee prepares a synopsis of the book in English. The synopsis is usually about one page long and a detailed reader's report is around two pages, so it is crucial for a good translator to summarize the book.

"That's when I start looking for the right translator. The synopsis should be translated by an excellent, proven translator who has experience and there are only a handful who can translate Korean into English at such a level. Of course I have to give a thought to the translator's style to fit the book."

The synopsis is handed out to the agents and only when most of them are positive, a sample ― usually 30 to 50 pages from the whole text ― is translated, shared among the agents in the same way. The local agent is in charge of finding a suitable publisher and editor for the book, who understand its value.

"Translation is basically under the jurisdiction of the editor. However, Korean is a minority language and I recommend appropriate translators to the editor," Lee said. "For the English-language market, I am in charge of the translation. So I keep my eyes open for good translators."

Lee's agency has mainly worked with Kim Chi-young, who translated Shin's "Please Look After Mom" and Hwang Sun-mi's "The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly," Sora Kim-Russell, who worked on another Shin novel "I'll Be Right There" and Gong Ji-young's "Our Happy Time."

Deborah Smith is a latecomer who became known for her translation of Han's "The Vegetarian," Lee said.

"There are few translators who completed translation a full-length novel. As we have more Korean literature to publish overseas, we need more translators proportionately, but the reality isn't there. Securing a larger pool of translators is a challenge we face."

Lee said a translator's background is not the single most important factor, but it would be wonderful if the translator knows Korean culture well, writes and speaks Korean and has an expressive power in the target language.

"But it's practically impossible to find someone who satisfies all the requisites. Being lost in translation is not a problem confined to the Korean language but can be found in any language. Even distortion of meaning is found in the same language," Lee said. "I think the key lies in acknowledging the deficiency in translation and filling it up through cooperation among author, translator, editor and agent."

Lee emphasized that it is the agent's role to introduce an author to another language group.

"A translator renders the literary work from one language to another, but the agent liaises, promotes and ultimately sells the book," he said.

Another important role of a literary agent is bridging the translator and the author.

"Some translators might not be familiar with Korean culture. In such cases, the agent should support the communication between the author and the translator for a smooth translation."

A long list of Korean literary works is in Lee's hands and a few of them are ready to greet international readers.

Pyun Hye-young signed a two-book deal with Arcade Publishing in the U.S. and her books "Ashes and Red" and "The Hole" will be published there in autumn and in 2017, respectively.

Hwang Sun-mi's "The Dog Who Dared to Dream," published by Little, Brown Book Group's Abacus, will hit the U.K. shelves starting next month, while Lee Jung-myung's

"The Boy Who Escaped Paradise" will be released in the U.S. later this year through Pegasus Books.

"It takes a long time to introduce a literary work to another culture. Sometimes, the response comes immediately, but some books take years so the agent needs a long-term perspective. The goal of an agent is finding the right editor and publisher who respect the value of the literature and talents of the author," Lee said. "Taking literature to another country is like putting a puzzle together -- a good literary work is the base and the Korean agent, translator, local agent, local editor and publisher play their role to make the book reach a wider audience."