26 Must-Read Korean Novels in English Translation

This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

Books & Bao, 26 Books

These are 26 of the best Korean novels in English translation, including two novels by Han Kang, the first South Korean to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

This list was originally published in 2024 and was added to this site over 1 year ago.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
6453 Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 Cho Nam-Joo 2016 Korean Korean
14984 Love In The Big City Sang Young Park 2019 Korean Korean
17120 Violets Kyung-sook Shin 2001 Korean Korean
14984 Greek Lessons Han Kang 2011 Korean Korean
17120 Walking Practice Dolki Min 2023 Unknown Korean
17120 The New Seoul Park Jelly Massacre Yeeun Cho 2019 Unknown Unknown
17120 I Want To Die But I Want To Eat Tteokbokki Baek Se-hee 2018 Korean Korean
7137 The Plotters Un-su Kim 2010 Korean Korean
17120 The Cabinet Un-su Kim 2006 Korean Korean
17120 Tower Bae Myung-hoon 2009 Korean Korean
17120 I'm Waiting For You And Other Stories Kim Bo-young 2021 Korean Korean
14232 Your Utopia Bora Chung 2024 Unknown Unknown
17120 The Specters Of Algeria Hwang Yeo Jung 2023 Unknown Unknown
17120 The Age Of Doubt Pak Kyongni 2021 Unknown Unknown
17120 My Brilliant Life Ae-ran Kim 2014 Korean Korean
17120 The Court Dancer Kyung-sook Shin 2007 Korean Korean
14984 Untold Night And Day Bae Suah 2013 Korean Korean
17120 B, Book, And Me Kim Sagwa 2011 Korean Korean
14984 The Hole Hye-Young Pyun 2016 Korean Korean
17120 The White Book Han Kang 2016 Korean Korean
17120 At Dusk Hwang Sok-yong 2018 Korean Korean
17120 To The Warm Horizon Choi Jin-young 2017 Korean Korean
14984 Welcome To The Hyunam Dong Bookshop Hwang Bo-reum 2022 Unknown Korean
17120 Endless Blue Sky Yi Hyoseok 2018 Korean Korean
17120 City Of Ash And Red Hye-Young Pyun 2010 Korean Korean
17120 The Color Of The Sky Is The Shape Of The Heart Chesil 2022 Japanese Japanese