K-Book Trends -

Search word : "Drama", Search result : 320

[TREND / BOOK TRIP]

Chuncheon A Sentimental Journey along the Railroad 2020.06.01 The most sentimental city in Korea would be Chuncheon, Gangwondo Province. There are many reasons to visit Chuncheon: college students go to Chuncheon for workshops every spring, young couples come to enjoy the beautiful scenery, and gourmets visit Chuncheon every year to taste the famous spicy stir-fried chicken and makguksu (buckwheat noodles). Alongside the lake and river, all sorts of water sports facilities, bike roads, and rail-bike trails are connected, which makes Chuncheon a perfect place for those that love outdoor activities. Just take ITX-Cheongchun in Seoul and ride for an hour to arrive in Chuncheon, the lake city. Soyang 2nd bridge and Miss Soyang River, both of which are symbols of Chuncheon ⓒChuncheon-si A picture book world unfolded on a little island Namiseom Island located on the way up to Chuncheon is a little leaf-shaped island with a perimeter of 5km....

VOL.23 / 2020.06

[TREND / TOPIC]

E-book Platforms and the Meaning of “Original Content”

E-book Platforms and the Meaning of “Original Content” The value of new methods and strategies 2020.05.04 According to the 2019 National Reading Survey, 52.1% of Korean adults were reading paper books. Adding e-books and audiobooks only pulled up the rate to 55.7%. The rate is falling with every survey. The reason for the fall in adults’ reading rate is a change of pattern in consuming content. People that enjoy other content than books reached 29.1%. Smartphones killed books.Yet, there are still readers. More and more readers are reading books with their mobile devices. Major online bookstores such as Yes 24, Kyobo Bookstore, and Aladdin have more than 10 million members each. Even e-book companies RIDI Books and Millie have millions of subscribers. There are many readers who enjoy reading genre literature through web-novel platforms such as Naver Webnovel, KakaoStory, Munpia, and Joara. In short, the missing number of paper book readers, or even mor...

VOL.22 / 2020.05

[INTERVIEW / KOREAN AUTHORS]

Writer Jung Yeo-Wool

Writer Jung Yeo-Wool Developing a healthy mind by facing your true self 2021.07.05 Most people bury their painful memories deep inside their hearts. They don’t have the courage to face them, for they fear what will happen next. However, writer Jung Yeo-Wool recommends people overcome their traumas by facing their inner wounds no matter how painful they might be. She turns into a healer that also has pains and candidly but composedly talks about them. Following is an interview of writer Jung, who sometimes gives warmth and sometimes the courage to face the pain with her “psychological therapeutic essays.” Please introduce yourself to the subscribers. Hello, I’m writer Jung Yeo-Wool. I had been working as a literary critic, but now I’ve leaned more to being a non-fiction writer. I was attracted to non-fiction as I could talk about more various stories in various fields without limitations. The genres of my books are largely divided into ...

VOL.36 / 2021.07

[INTERVIEW / KOREAN PUBLISHERS]

Safehouse Inc.

Safehouse Inc. A Powerhouse of Boundless Cross-genre Imagination 2021.05.03 Established under the slogan of being “A safe house for good stories,” publisher Safehouse is one of the publishers specializing in genre fiction in Korea. Living up to the slogan, the publisher works as a “safe house” for creators and stories so that stories about various topics that had been in the shadow can gain attention. Following is an interview with publisher Safehouse, a home to boundless imagination going across genres and media, collaborating with webtoon and video companies that need stories, particularly those that can be made into books. Logo of Safehouse Inc. Please introduce Safehouse to overseas publishers. Safehouse is a “producer of genre fiction stories” that plans and develops content for stories. Safehouse’s producers and creators cooperate from the planning stage of stories until the end. We pursue stories that have the potential to...

VOL.34 / 2021.05

[EVENT / IMAGE OF K-BOOK]

The Tiger: The Origin of Korea’s Symbolic Story

Image of K-Book The Tiger: The Origin of Korea’s Symbolic Story 2025.05.07 Tigers (called ‘호랑이(horangi)’ in Korean) symbolize Koreans’ strong spirit In the “What animal best represents Korea?” poll, the tiger received an overwhelming 83.1% of the vote. Tigers have long been deeply rooted in Korean history and culture, with Koreans referring to them as Sangun (山君; the king of the mountain), symbolizing the majesty and authority of nature. The Legend of Dangun is a classic example of the symbolism of the tiger. The legend explains the origins of the founding of Korea, where Dangun, the son of Hwanung, the god of the sky, founded Gojoseon. When Hwanung descends to rule the human world, a bear and a tiger begin training to become human by eating mugwort and garlic in a cave. However, the tiger leaves halfway through, and the bear, who persev...

VOL.82 / 2025.05

[EVENT / I READ]

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

I Read The Vegetarian by Han Kang 2025.05.07 This article is a review written by a Japanese reader ofK-Book Trends after reading a Korean book.If you want to share your wonderful experience of reading Korean bookswith other overseas readers, please send us an email!kbooktrends@gmail.com Japanese and Korean covers of The Vegetarian Han Kang’s The Vegetarian is a haunting, deeply psychological novel that explores personal autonomy, societal expectations, and the consequences of nonconformity. The story follows Yeong-hye, an ordinary woman who suddenly decides to stop eating meat after a series of disturbing dreams. What begins as a simple dietary choice soon spirals into a harrowing transformation, unsettling her family and leading to increasingly surreal and tragic events.The novel is divided into three parts, each narrated by different people in Yeong-hye’s life?her ...

VOL.82 / 2025.05

[INFORMATION / BEST SELLERS]

3rd Week, August

3rd Week, August Bestseller Trends in the Four Biggest Online Bookstores in Korea 2020.09.07 In the third week of August 2020, books written by famous figures drew popularity in Korea. For example, What Are You Living For? an essay written by JYP, a popular Korean singer, Reboot by the famous lecturer and Youtuber Kim Mi-Kyung, and The Reason for Living by film critic and celebrity Heo Ji-Woong topped the integrated list of bestsellers. In particular, The Reason for Living is a new essay eagerly written by someone who has gone through a significant struggle in life in 2018 - malignant lymphoma, which is a type of blood cancer - and has gotten a totally new perspective towards life. The writer offers warm consolation to readers who are fighting against their own struggles in life.Some books have become bestsellers on the back of their original TV drama's success. For instance, “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” is a popular drama in Korea featuring the story of a children...

VOL.26 / 2020.09

[TOPIC / TRENDS]

Review of Seoul International Book Fair 2017

Review of Seoul International Book Fair 2017 Small and Clear Taste, Permeates Our Life Again 2017.6.30 The International Book Fair 2017 was held for five days from June 14th to 18th in Seoul, the capital city of South Korea. The event was a lively scene, celebrating new trends in the Korean publishing industry with enthusiastic industry insiders and book-lovers. Beyond Huge Online Bookstores Online bookstores are sweeping around the world, following the trend started by Amazon. Due to this tremendous change, local independent bookstores in our town are closing one after another. People quickly get used to the convenience of online bookstores, left behind the memories of sitting down to read books in bookstores and returning to discover the rest of the stories. People pick up either recommendations or bestsellers from website as the trendy topics fill the streets, so our taste becomes more common place. After discovering that b...

VOL.1 / 2017.06

[TOPIC / TRENDS]

South Korea’s Literary Awards

South Korea’s Literary Awards 2018.07.31 Authors of South Korea usually start their careers by writing short stories. Every January 1st, South Korea’s key newspapers print literary works that have snagged awards, like short novels, poems, reviews and fairy tales. These contests by the papers are called “sinchunmunye”, which would translate into “spring literary contest”. This tradition began in 1925 by DongA Ilbo newspaper and for the next near century, South Korea’s key writers would first meet readers through this method. South Korea’s literary editors read these works at the beginning of the year, assess the literary potential the writers have and start contacting the new authors. The writers usually win around 5 million won per prize and winning an award at these annual competitions is considered a great honor. For many, a long time is spent honing their craft.Prominent literary magazines like Literature and Society, Munhakdongne (Literary Neighborhood), Creat...

VOL.11 / 2018.07

[TOPIC / KOREAN PUBLISHER]

GOZKNOCK ENT

GOZKNOCK ENT How About a Genre Novel to Read on a Quiet Day? 2018.07.31 Imagine a hunter who seeks out his prey for writing, hunts it down, collects it and cooks it after. If one were to look at Gozknock ENT, they would be reminded of such a hunter, as the workers here become observers and explorers in order to find good writing. They are in their second year of existence and they already have a strong reader base and are known for their genre novels. Readers say they don’t need to think twice when it comes to books from Gozknock - they just read them. The below is a Q&A with Bae Seon-a, head of Gozknock ENT currently sprouting stories for film adaptations in a garden of content. KPIPA Could you tell us what kind of place Gozknock ENT is? Bae Gozknock ENT is a development company that creates original stories ready to be adapted into video, in addition to genre novels. We combined the Korean word ‘gozknock’ which means quiet, cozy with ‘ent...

VOL.11 / 2018.07

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