LTI Korea honors translators behind Han Kang’s Nobel Prize win

Translators Anders Karlsson (left) and Park Ok-kyoung (center) stand with Kwon Seong-woo, the jury comittee head and a professor at Sookmyung Women's University, during Literature Translation Institute of Korea's Translation Awards ceremony in Seoul, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Kim Se-jeong

The Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea) honored two veteran translators for their contributions to Han Kang’s 2024 Nobel Prize in literature during its annual Translation Awards ceremony in Seoul, Wednesday.

Anders Karlsson and Park Ok-kyoung, who have co-translated Korean literature into Swedish for almost three decades, were the recipients of the Outstanding Service Award.

“Their translation work has played a pivotal role in elevating the status of Korean literature in Europe and increasing its international visibility,” said Kwon Seong-soo, a professor at Sookmyung Women's University and head of the jury committee, during the ceremony.

“In particular, they directly introduced Korean literature to the Swedish literary community, which oversees the Nobel Prize in literature, and their Swedish translations of Han Kang’s 'We Do Not Part' and 'The White Book' were highly regarded in the judging process for the Nobel Prize.”

The couple thanked LTI Korea for the recognition.

“When we started, there was no publisher in Sweden willing to publish our translations. Knowing that, I couldn’t be happier to see so many Swedish readers now familiar with Korean literature and to see Han receive the Nobel Prize,” Park said in her acceptance speech. “Anders and I are grateful to have contributed and thankful to LTI for its support and recognition.”

In addition to Han’s works, the pair has translated notable Korean novels by Yi Mun-yol, Hwang Sok-yong, Han Mal-sook and Bora Chung.

Grand Prize winners of the 2025 LTI Korea Translation Awards, from left: Lee Ki-hyang, Tayfun Kartav and Najbar-Miller Justyna Agata / Courtesy of LTI Korea

The 2025 LTI Korea Translation Awards also recognized 20 professional and amateur translators who rendered fiction, film and webtoons into 12 different languages.

The Grand Prize went to three translators — Lee Ki-hyang, who translated Bora Chung’s “Cursed Bunny” into German; Tayfun Kartav, who translated Chang Kang-myoung’s “Homodominance” into Turkish; and Najbar-Miller Justyna Agata, who translated Han Kang’s “We Do Not Part” into Polish.

The award for Aspiring Translators in the fiction category went to nine translators, who rendered either Kim Ki-tae’s “The Internationale for Two” or Seo Jang-won’s “Little Pride” into a different language.

In the film and webtoon categories, eight translators were recognized, including Adelle Wee Xing Min, who was also honored at the 56th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards organized by The Korea Times last month. Wee translated director Namkoong Sun’s 2024 film script “Time to Be Strong” into English.

Adelle Wee Xing Min, fourth from left, a winner of the Aspiring Translators Award, receives a plaque from Oh Dong-jin, chairman of Wildflower Film Festival, during LTI Korea's Translation Awards ceremony in Seoul, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Kim Se-jeong

According to LTI Korea, nearly 670 entries were submitted this year, the largest pool since the awards were launched in 2001.

Established in 1996, LTI Korea has supported the translation of Korean literature for global audiences. To date, it has helped more than 2,000 Korean titles get published overseas in 44 languages.

“Korean literature has now passed the milestone of the Nobel Prize, but it must continue striving to firmly establish itself as a literature loved around the world. These awards aim to encourage that ongoing effort,” LTI Korea President Chon Soo-young said during the ceremony.