In Germany, European authors take on manga with K-pop romance novels

Sabrina T. Rudolph, center, speaks with local readers about her work at the K-pop Romance booth of the Leipzig Book Fair in Germany, March 20. Korea Times photo by Jung Seung-im

By Hankookilbo

• Published Apr 22, 2026 12:20 AM KST

Fresh off an MBA in the United States, Min Seo-hee begins a new chapter in Seoul as a manager at a Korean entertainment agency. It is there that she meets Lim Tae-jun of the K-pop boy group Millions, setting in motion a tumultuous romance that surges and crashes like waves.

This story, which some might find a bit corny, lies at the heart of "The Millions," a romance novel series displayed at the K-pop Romance booth of the Leipzig Book Fair in Germany last month.

The first impression is that K-pop has carved out a place at one of Germany’s largest book fairs, widely regarded as a counterpart to the Frankfurt Book Fair. The sight stood out even more amid the overwhelming presence of Japanese manga across the exhibition hall.

But assuming the author is Korean simply because the story revolves around K-pop would be a mistake. The writer behind the series is 39-year-old German author Sabrina T. Rudolph, a devoted fan of Super Junior who spent a year and a half living in Seoul in 2011.

Her experience in Korea later became a driving force for the novel series. In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, her sister Anja and friend Sahar suggested that she write a romance novel inspired by K-pop — and that is how it all began.

They quickly launched a publishing company called InVision Publishing, raised funds through crowdfunding and published the first novel in the series, "A Million Beginnings."

The characters’ names in the series, all distinctly Korean in tone, were chosen with great care, she said.

“I drew on my own memories, a sense of familiarity and sounds that I naturally found beautiful when creating the names,” Rudolph said. “For example, the name of the main character, Tae-jun, carries the meaning of a towering figure, as suggested by the Chinese characters.”

Since making her debut at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2023, Rudolph has been introducing her books at various book fairs across Germany and meeting local readers. More recently, she also released an English edition to connect with more readers around the world. At this year’s Leipzig Book Fair, she even held a reading session where she met fans of her books in person.

From blond aristocrats to black-haired idols

For Koreans who once immersed themselves in romance comics or novels, seeing German writers create stories around K-pop stars can bring a strange sense of the world having been turned on its head. Many of the romances they grew up with, even when penned by Asian authors, were set in Europe and filled with white protagonists.

Won Soo-yeon’s "Full House" is one such example, pairing British superstar Ryder Bay with Korean aspiring screenwriter Ellie Gee. Japanese classics such as "The Rose of Versailles" and "Candy Candy" followed a similar pattern. For years, Western settings featuring blond, blue-eyed European nobles or upper-class protagonists helped define the romance genre and served as a tried-and-true commercial formula. Beneath that convention lay an implicit longing for the West.

Now, at the heart of Europe, K-pop stars are beginning to take their place as protagonists of romance fiction. The aristocratic male lead has given way to a black-haired K-pop idol, while the stately European palaces that once framed these love stories have been replaced by performance stages.

It is a sign that K-pop is moving beyond being merely consumed as culture and is beginning to shape the literary worlds imagined by Western authors. The portrayal of Asian K-pop stars as figures of desire serves as evidence of Korea’s and K-pop’s transformed status.

“There is definitely a solid readership for romance in Germany, and I think the concept of K-pop romance feels fresh to many readers, making it all the more intriguing,” Rudolph said.

“K-pop’s popularity in Germany has grown at an eyebrow-raising pace over the past few years, to the point where songs by Stray Kids and Seventeen can now be heard in local shops,” she added.

Choosing a Korean pen name

Another K-pop romance novel encountered at the fair, "Be my Hope," first drew attention through the author’s name: Selly Park. What appeared to be a Korean name, however, turned out to be the pen name of a native Austrian author.

“I chose a pen name with a Korean surname because my novel belongs to the K-pop genre, and I thought it would draw more attention that way,” the 31-year-old author said. “Park feels both soft and strong to me, and it also fits well with my real name.”

"Be my Hope" follows Meena, a young Austrian woman who loses her dreams after a tragic accident, then moves to Seoul. There she meets Nam-jun, a member of the K-pop group Sector5, and begins to find her sense of purpose again. As the name suggests, the author is a fan of BTS and its leader RM, whose Korean name is Kim Nam-joon.

“Austria is a small country, and fan communities are often geographically scattered, but K-pop is bringing people together. Its growth in recent years has been astonishing,” she said.

Manga prevails in Europe

Still, K-pop romance has yet to establish itself as a genre in its own right, and whether it can achieve lasting success remains to be seen. For now, the reality is that in Germany and across much of Europe, Asian content is still often equated with Japanese manga.

The entrance to the Leipzig Book Fair that day was teeming with young cosplayers dressed as characters from Japanese anime, many of them there for Manga Comic Con, a companion event held inside the fairgrounds. Founded in 2014 for manga fans, it has since grown into one of the fair’s biggest crowd-pullers, drawing tens of thousands each year.

Their presence played a significant role in pushing total attendance at this year’s Leipzig Book Fair, Manga Comic Con and the accompanying Leipzig Reads festival to a record 313,000, as organizers continue to allocate more booths and space to Japanese manga.

In sales terms, Germany recorded $765 million in comic sales last year, and some 1,500 new manga titles are released each year. Experts say the secret behind manga’s dominant position lies in the diversity of its genres and subject matter.

Kim Bitnarae, head of the Republic of Korea guest of honor program at Comic Invasion Berlin 2026, told The Hankook Ilbo that Japanese manga owes much of its success to its broad mix of genres and themes, offering something for readers of all ages and tastes. France, which has the largest comic market in Europe, has also played a major role, with its market valued at $1.29 billion.

“France has long regarded comics as a legitimate cultural art form,” she said. “From that base, the strong circulation of manga in France naturally spread to other European countries, including Germany.”

Korea’s race to catch up

Riding the global wave of K-pop, Korean comics are now sprinting to close the gap after a late start. One of the strategies has been a more assertive push for the term “manhwa” over the Japanese “manga” — a distinction likened by some to that between gimbap and sushi. Some publishers have already started labeling works as “manhwa” instead of “manga,” setting them apart as a genre of their own.

South Korea’s selection as the focus country for Comic Invasion Berlin 2026, which opened this month and runs through May 10, is also seen as a promising development. The Korean Cultural Center in Germany and other organizers view the festival as a major chance to firmly introduce Korean comics and their diversity under this year’s theme, “Frames Unbound: Manhwa Goes Berlin.”

"The designation means Korean comics will be invited to the forefront of the festival and placed under a more concentrated spotlight," said Kim.

Pushing the Konglish term 'webtoon'

The key weapon of Korean comics is the webtoon. Having pioneered the vertically scrolling format, instead of the traditional horizontal page layout, South Korea is looking to compete on the basis of that innovation. The word “webtoon,” too, is being deliberately promoted as a proper noun of its own.

“‘Webtoon’ is itself a Konglish expression, while ‘webcomic’ is the more commonly used term overseas. Because Korea was the first to develop the platform, our strategy is to push ‘webtoon’ as a proper noun in its own right,” an official at the Korean Cultural Center in Germany said.

“While Japanese manga built its dominance in print, we are looking to compete through webtoons, where we hold the strongest position as a platform.”

The prime example is "Solo Leveling," which has gained much popularity across France, Germany and Spain. In addition to its overwhelming action, the format’s distinctive traits — such as smartphone-optimized vertical scrolling, rapid panel shifts and cinematic visual style — are widely credited with helping webtoons resonate with younger audiences in Europe.

“Webtoons provide a differentiated reading experience from traditional print comics through their vertical scroll format, which is designed for mobile environments,” Kim said.

“Some titles also incorporate soundtracks and animated sequences, displaying webtoons’ potential to expand further as digital content.”

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.