Seoul: Overseas sales of translated works of Korean literature have reached a record 1.2 million copies last year, driven by an expanding readership across different genres, data revealed on Tuesday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the sales of works that received translation or publication support from the Literature Translation Institute (LTI) of Korea hit this figure in 2025, marking an increase of 228 copies from the previous year, based on data compiled by the institution. Over the 2021-2025 period, accumulated sales of 1,026 translated works published in approximately 40 languages amounted to around 3.6 million copies.

The LTI cited the robust sales as evidence of the growing demand for a diverse range of translated Korean literary works rather than just a few bestsellers. Among the notable bestsellers were Nobel laureate Han Kang's "We Do Not Part," which sold about 300,000 copies across 13 countries from 2023 to 2035. Additionally, Hwang Bo-reum's novel "Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop" achieved combined sales of 88,000 copies, while Kim Ho-yeon's "The Second Chance Convenience Store" recorded combined sales of 66,000 copies.