VOL.74/2024.09

Aggregate data as of the fifth week of May

The Discovery of Small Universes In Picture Books

2018.06.28

Explosion of interest in Cryptography From the Third-Floor Secretariat, a tell-all on Kim Jong Un’s regime amid swift changes on the Korean peninsula

Former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom Thae Yong Ho’s memoir Cryptography From the Third-Floor Secretariat topped YES24’s bestseller list in the fifth week of May for a second week. This book, which tells the secrets of Kim Jong Un’s regime in North Korea sold roughly 3,000 copies within three days of publication on YES24 and has been at the center of a whirlwind in the bookstore industry. Among its readers, 38.9 percent are 50 or older and 28 percent of its readers were men in their 50s or older.

Literature has strong showing with Bernard Werber’s Demain Les Chats, Winnie the Pooh series

Bernard Werber’s latest novel Demain Les Chats has quickly climbed the bestseller list - not a surprise for South Koreans’ most favorite French author. The first part found itself at No. 3 after climbing 15 spots compared to the previous week while the second part followed closely behind at No. 4 after jumping 16 spots. Fireflies by Haruki Murakami (Munhakdongne) sat in ninth place, its popularity driven by the movie adapted from the novel, “Burning”, by South Korean director Lee Chang-dong. The movie recently competed at the Cannes. Meanwhile, May can truly be called the month of ‘Winnie the Pooh’ as the series featuring the beloved character saw immense popularity and interest from readers. Pooh Bear, Happiness Happens Every Day (RH Korea) that offers everyday advice for a happy life and the second book in the series Pooh Bear, It’s OK to Not Hurry (RH Korea) stood at second and fifth place on the bestseller list, finishing up May with powerful demand.

〈Bestsellers for Fifth Week of May From No.1 to 15〉

Written by Choi Ji-hye(Branding part, marketing dept at YES24)