Following her recent Nobel Prize win, more than 500,000 copies of novels and short stories by Han Kang have been sold in South Korea. This surge in sales has occurred within just four days of her receiving the prestigious award.
According to major online bookstores Kyobo Book Centre and Yes24, approximately 530,000 copies of Kang’s works were sold as of 2 p.m. on Sunday. This remarkable figure follows the announcement of her victory as the first South Korean to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature last Thursday, as reported by Yonhap news agency.
Breaking down the numbers, Kyobo sold around 260,000 copies, while Yes24 reported sales of 270,000 copies from Thursday until Sunday afternoon. Kang’s poetry and novels have dominated the bestseller lists at both bookstores, sweeping the top 11 positions. Notably, many of these books are now being sold through preorders.
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A bookstore official indicated that supply shortages are expected to ease soon, as additional stock is set to arrive over the weekend and early next week.
Among Kang’s works, her 2014 novel “Human Acts,” the award-winning “The Vegetarian,” and her latest release, “We Do Not Part,” are the top three bestsellers.
Han Kang’s Nobel Prize win has been significant for Korean literature, marking a milestone in its global recognition. Born in Gwangju in 1970, she debuted as a writer in 1993 when five of her poems, including “Winter of Seoul,” were published in the magazine “Literature and Society.” Her first short story, “The Scarlet Anchor,” published the following year, won a literary contest.
In 1995, Kang released her first book, “Love in Yeosu,” a collection of stories. However, it was “The Vegetarian,” originally published in Korean in 2007, that catapulted her to fame. The novel tells the story of Yeong-hye, who rebels against societal norms by rejecting meat. This work later earned Kang the Man Booker International Prize in 2016, making her the first South Korean recipient of the award.