Korea Times Translation Awards recognize voices bridging Korean literature with world

Winners and other partcipants of the 56th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards pose during the award ceremony at Kyobo Building in central Seoul, Tuesday. From left are judge Sora Kim-Russell, Diretor General for Arts Policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Shin Eun-hyang, fiction Commendation Award winner Adelle Wee Xing Min, fiction Grand Prize winner Diana Akhmetova, poetry Commendation Award winner Ketevani Barbakadze, Changbi Publishers' Rights Manager Ally Bang who represented the winner of Kevin O’Rourke Prize Peace Lee, Kim Hae-in who represented the poetry Grand Prinze winner Sooj Heo, Irish Ambassador to Korea Michelle Winthrop, KB Kookmin Bank Senior Executive Vice President Kang Nam-che and Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Kim Se-jeong

• Published Nov 4, 2025 10:33 PM KST

The Korea Times celebrated five literary translators who won its 56th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards during a ceremony at Kyobo Building in central Seoul, Tuesday.

This year’s contest, the first since author Han Kang’s Nobel Prize in literature win, saw a surge in entries compared to previous editions. Sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and KB Financial Group, the awards presented two grand prizes, two commendation awards and the Kevin O'Rourke Prize.

The award ceremony was followed by a book talk featuring best-selling author Jang Ryu-jin and Sean Lin Halbert. The two who discussed the recently published English translation of Jang’s novel "To the Moon" by Halbert, who himself had won the Grand Prize from The Korea Times' Literature Translation Awards in 2018.

“When this award was first established in the 1970s, Korea was still a small country in Asia, distant from global attention. However, we have now become an advanced economy that commands global interest, and cultural phenomena beginning with the letter K — K-pop and K-drama — have captured the hearts of audiences everywhere,” Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin said during his congratulatory remarks.

“Even now, countless works of Korean literature await their chance to meet global readers through translation. Of course, the pace of progress in artificial intelligence translation is truly remarkable. Yet, machines still struggle to grasp and convey the depth of human emotion and the subtleties of nuance.”

The Grand Prize in fiction and the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award, the highest honors of the event, went to Diana Akhmetova for her translation of Kim Ji-yeon’s "The Things that Go By."

“Language and literature are important parts of culture. As the world becomes more chaotic and insecure, I believe we need to try harder to understand others and literary translation can help achieve that goal,” Akhmetova said.

Sooj Heo, who received the Grand Prize in poetry for her translation of poems by Pak Seo-won, expressed her gratitude for the recognition.

“Reading more than 300 of Pak Seo-won’s poems and translating a number of them, I sensed the force of her painful yet ecstatic language. I believe it is that strength that made this recognition possible,” Heo said through her friend Kim Hae-in, who attended the ceremony on her behalf.

“Though inspiring, translating poems that felt almost like eruptive cries was not purely enjoyable, and to say that I receive this award with uncomplicated happiness would not feel accurate. As an artist, I had held only to shaping and expressing my own voice. Through translation, however, I came to see the value of giving another voice the chance to speak in a new language. This has given me a way to continue with my own voice as well.”

The Commendation Award in fiction went to Adelle Wee Xing Min from Singapore for her translation of Choi Hee-ra’s novel "Aeon." She thanked her parents, who flew from Singapore to Seoul to attend the ceremony, for their encouragement and support.

Ketevani Barbakadze received the Commendation Award in poetry for her translation of poems by Park So-ran, including "Words Close to the Heart."

“Poetry is not only about words — it’s about expression, emotion and what remains unsaid,” Barbakadze said. “I came to believe that translation, though imperfect, is its own act of courage. It takes courage to speak for another voice, to risk losing something in the process and to keep trying anyway, because what we are trying to share is human connection itself. This award gives me the courage to see translation not just as something I love, but as something I can dedicate myself to.”

The Kevin O’Rourke Prize was awarded to Peace Lee for her translation of Hyun Ki-young’s fiction "Iron and Flesh." The prize, introduced last year to honor the late Kevin O’Rourke, a pioneer in Korean poetry translation, was presented by Irish Ambassador to Korea Michelle Winthrop. Ally Bang of Changbi Publishers accepted the award on Lee’s behalf.

Shin Eun-hyang, director general for arts policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, congratulated the winners and pledged the government's unwavering support for translation of Korean literature.

The ceremony concluded with a lively book talk attended by book lovers and aspiring translators, where Jang and Halbert shared insights on writing, translation and cross-cultural storytelling.