VOL.77/2024.12

South Korea's June Bestsellers

Aggregate Data for June

 

2018.07.31

 

Pooh Bear, Happiness Happens Every Day (RH Korea), which has sparked a surge in popularity for famous character-led essay collections hopped back into first place on the bestseller list in June. North Korean defector Thae Yong-ho’s Cryptography From the Third-Floor Secretariat (Guiparang), snapped up by senior readers thanks to volatile inter-Korean issues, slipped to third place. Every Moment Was You (Wisdom House) stepped up to second place. Written by Ha Tae-wan, who was propelled to fame by his social media accounts, the book saw demand after a character in a popular television drama was featured reading the book.

 

 

In this age of social media, so much data is produced and shared at a breakneck pace, but the influence of television is still prominent. Books that see a sudden jump in popularity usually do so after readers receive information on the book from television. For television adaptations, viewers take an interest in the original work. For instance, the original work for television drama What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim (Gaha Books) and Miss Hammurabi (Munhakdongne) by Moon Yoo-seok both saw a jump in sales after their adaptations aired. The latter was especially popular as it was based on a novel written by a South Korean judge who was also involved in the scripting process. Moon’s previous work, Individualist Declaration (Munhakdongne) also gained in popularity, climbing to 12th place on the bestseller list.

 

 

Bernard Werber’s demain les chats (Open Books) has seen steady demand thanks to the author’s sturdy fan base. Werber is well known in South Korea for his imaginative novels that address a number of topics like science, philosophy and history. Over the past months, South Korean and Japanese authors like Cho Nam-joo or Keigo Higashino had taken up slots on the bestseller list, but in recent weeks, French and English novels have climbed up the rungs.

 

 

Rhyu Si-min’s history of history (Dolbegae) was popular from the get-go, with pre-orders surging. As soon as it was published, it reached sixth place on the monthly bestseller list. Rhyu has steadily published books on humanities, history and culture after he retired as a politician and became a full time writer. He has also been making frequent appearances on television programs that address political issues, making him the most-wanted celebrity for television show producers. Rhyu also meets his readers frequently outside the television studio, at lectures or book readings, creating opportunities for South Koreans to read and learn about history which can be a difficult topic for some.

 

 

Following these writers on the bestseller list would be where will you live (Eulyoo Publishing) by architect Yoo Hyun-jun in seventh place. After Yoo appeared on a television entertainment program, readers began taking an interest in his work, including what cities thrive on (Eulyoo Publishing) which was published before this recent publication. Yoo’s books are currently loved for their view on architecture that affects lives and on space in general.

 

 

〈Top 10 Bestsellers〉

 

Cover	Title	Writer	Publisher	Genre
	Pooh Bear, Happiness Happens Every Day	Winnie the Pooh Original Works	RH Korea	Poems/ Essay
	Every Moment Was You	Ha Tae-wan	Wisdom House	Poems/ Essay
	Cryptography From the Third - Floor Secretariat	Thae Yong Ho	Guiparang	Society/ Politics
	Demain Les Chats1	Bernard Werber	Open Books	Novel
	Pooh Bear, It’s OK Not to Hurry	Winnie the Pooh Original Works	RH Korea	Poems/ Essay
	History of History	Rhyu Si-min	Dolbegae	History/ Culture
	Where Will You Live	Yoo Hyun-jun	Eulyoo Publishing	Humanities
	How To Respond Smiling To A Rude Person	Jeong Mun-jeong	Minumsa	Poems/ Essay
	I Have Decided To Live As Me	Kim Su-hyun	Maumsup	Poems/ Essay
	Ji-young Kim Born in ’82	Cho Nam-joo	Minumsa	Novel

 

 

---

Written by Kim Hyun-jung (Brand management team, Marketing support division at Kyobo Book Centre)