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LTI Korea connects Korean literature, global publishers
Translator Sung Ryu, right, speaks during her presentation at the K-Literature Fellowship 2025, in Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Kim Se-jeong
By Kim Se-jeong
Despite rising global interest in Korean literature, connecting with foreign publishers remains a big challenge for local publishers, particularly for small and medium-sized presses.
That’s where the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea) steps in. Its K-Literature Fellowship 2025, happening through Thursday, demonstrates its ongoing efforts to support Korean publishers in introducing their titles abroad and facilitating international copyright sales.
On Tuesday at Coex Magok in western Seoul, 18 translators of Korean literature into English took the stage one by one. Each presented a synopsis of a work they hope to fully translate, introduced the author and spoke briefly about themselves.
The authors highlighted included Jeong You-jeong, author of “Seven Years of Darkness” (2011) and “The Good Son” (2016); Choi Eun-young, who wrote “Shoko’s Smile” (2016); Kim Soom, author of “One Left” (2020); and Sung Hae-na, who wrote “Summer Left Behind” (2023).
Among the translators were Joheun Lee, Sung Ryu, Lisa Kim, Kim Soyoung, Lee Kyung Min, Snigdha Gupta, Hoyoung Moon, Sarah K. J. Yoo, Soeun Seo, Ana Barragan, Peace Pyunghwa Lee, Camila Hidalgo and Aerin Park. Sean Lin Halbert, Jasmine Jeemin Lee, You Jeong Kim and G. S. Hand, winners of The Korea Times’ Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards, were present as well.
Also attending were representatives from 20 overseas publishers across 14 countries. The list included Ecco Press and Penguin Random House from the United States; 4th Estate, Doubleday and Jonathan Cape from the United Kingdom; Calmann-Levy from France; HarperCollins Italia from Italy; Alfa Kitap from Turkey; and Gummerus from Finland.
Translator Sean Lin Halbert speaks during his presentation at the K-Literature Fellowship 2025, in Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Kim Se-jeong
LTI Korea emphasized its role as a bridge between Korean and overseas publishers.
“What we’ve seen is that many publishers outside Korea are interested in Korean literature, while Korean publishers are eager to take their novels abroad,” said Park Jee-won, manager of the translation and publication team at LTI Korea. “And we wanted to bring them together.”
“Overseas publishers we invited today have previously published works nominated for prestigious literary awards. Through initiatives like this, we hope to see another Han Kang emerge.”
Pauline Benay of French publisher Calmann-Levy noted a surge in French readers’ interest in Korean and Asian literature. “We’re trying to publish more books from Asia,” she said.
Jane Lawson of Doubleday said her trip was motivated by curiosity about the global fascination with Korean literature.
“I relish the opportunity to meet the voices behind this surge — who is driving it, why are we all interested, and what themes are making the world so drawn to Korean literature? I’m here to discover.”
Lawson suggested that beyond Han Kang’s Nobel Prize in literature and International Booker Prize win, the rise of Korean literature owes much to Gen Z readers who discovered K-pop and K-dramas on YouTube and Netflix during the pandemic.
“They are the audience for many of the books in translation. Since they’re already interested in other aspects of Korean media, they’re a big part of our readership,” Lawson said.
The fellowship program also features a series of discussions on the current state of the Korean publishing industry and the evolving landscape of Korean literature; one-on-one meetings between Korean and international publishers to explore potential copyright deals; and field visits to key literary sites, including Paju Book City and independent bookstores in Seoul.