Cover to Cover The Korea Herald

It’s the end of another year, and we’ve rounded up the top 5 Korean books translated into English that came out in 2023 that you’ve got to check out. 



We discuss how and why we chose these books, and some of the key themes, including feminism, generation gaps and LGBT rights. This episode also features special appearances by our books reporter Hwang Dong-hee and literary translator Victoria Caudle (find her on X @nureonjongi).



The Korea Herald’s interview with Dolki Min: https://t.ly/3kA5D

Our listener Serena’s bookstagram: https://t.ly/rR1ZN 

The Digital Library of Korean Literature by LTI Korea: https://t.ly/YKlMi 



We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Send us a post on Twitter/X (Beth @betheunheehong / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com. 

Note: the Korean title for “Greek Lessons” is “희랍어 시간,” not “희랍어 수업.” We regret the error!

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast 



Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo)

Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)



00:00 Introduction

00:16 Our top five Korean books of 202301:52 Book pick 1

05:26 Book pick 2

11:06 Book pick 3

14:24 Book pick 4

16:14 Book pick 5

18:12 That’s a wrap!

18:43 A Korean book pick from our listener Serena

What happens when a ghost tries to cross the DMZ dividing North and South Korea? Author Joseph Han’s debut novel “Nuclear Family” explores themes of separated families, generational trauma and the Korean immigrant experience in Hawaii. Upon the release of the Korean translation of his book to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War in 1953, we interviewed Joseph about his diaspora experience, journey to writing fiction and more.

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @betheunheehong / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com.

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast

Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo)
Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)

0:00 Introduction
1:27 “Nuclear Family” in Joseph’s words
2:24 Joseph’s Third Culture Kid roots in Seoul and Hawaii
3:55 Joseph’s journey to writing and self-discovery
7:31 What inspired “Nuclear Family”?
10:41 Joseph’s reaction to the Korean translation
12:31 Uncanny coincidences
16:31 Key takeaways from the book
19:40 Autobiographical elements in “Nuclear Family”
22:41 Books to read about the Korean War and separated families
24:47 Joseph’s upcoming publications
26:50 What’s an interesting Korean word/phrase you’d like to share?
29:55 A Korean book pick from our listener Courtney

Happy 10th anniversary to BTS! In this episode, we dove into the BTS book "Beyond the Story” (translated by Anton Hur, Claire Richards and Slin Jung) which has been taking bestseller lists by storm around the world. 

We sat down with Dr. Areum Jeong, an assistant professor of Korean Studies at Arizona State University and K-pop expert, about her TCK roots, ARMY fandom, how BTS changed the industry and their impact on the conversation about mental health in Korea and more.

Stay tuned until the end for a Korean book recommendation from one of our listeners, Faye from the UK! Faye is based in London and also runs a website about Korean pop culture that you can check out here: https://fayefromlondon.co.uk. 

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com. 

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast 



Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo)

Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)


00:17 Happy 10th anniversary BTS!

01:28 Introducing Areum

02:31 Areum’s thoughts on the BTS book

04:31 How BTS changed the K-pop industry

07:37 What sets Army apart from other fandoms

09:08 Korean Wave & the Korean diaspora: How being Korean got cool

12:14 Army’s influence beyond K-pop

15:37 “Without fans, there is no K-pop” 18:37 Why you see K-pop idols on bus and subway ads

21:44 BTS’ contribution to the mental health conversation23:18 K-pop idols & the pressure to always look happy27:06 Areum’s book on K-pop fandoms

29:30 Being a K-pop stan

31:21 What’s an interesting Korean word/phrase you’d like to share?

33:27 A Korean book pick from our listener Faye

Happy Pride! To commemorate, we sat down with award-winning literary translator Anton Hur. Anton’s translation of the queer Korean novel “Love in the Big City” by Park Sang-young was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2022.



In this wide-ranging conversation, Anton delved into how his unique upbringing shaped his career path, the current landscape for LGBT books and media in Korea, and the one queer Korean book you must check out.



We also have a special shoutout for one of our listeners, Erica. Erica runs a Korean book club in Amsterdam, so if anyone in the area is interested in joining, you can follow her on Instagram @SpeakingOfKorea!



We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com.



📢 COVID-19 precautions were taken to ensure the safety of the production team.



Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast

Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo)

Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)


0:15 Introducing Anton Hur
1:25 Growing up as a Third Culture Kid
3:57 How many languages does Anton speak?
5:37 Relationship with books and libraries
10:01 From law to translation
12:58 Life and challenges as a married gay couple in Korea
16:26 Has public acceptance of LGBT in Korea grown?
17:51 Growing visibility of LGBT K- content
19:57 Anton’s take on rise of queer K-literature
22:28 Where to look for LGBT Korean books
26:16 Anton’s No. 1 pick
27:19 BTS book? Sci-fi? Anton’s book?
33:31 A Korean book pick from our listener Erica

As Hallyu continues to take the world by storm, including the growing popularity of Korean language learning, we sat down with award-winning Korean author Seo Su-jin to uncover the dark side of the Korean language boom.

Through her debut novel “Korean Teachers,” translated by Elizabeth Buelher and published by Harriett Press, Seo delves into the exploitative and sexist working conditions for university Korean language teachers. Based on the true experiences of herself and her former colleagues, Seo’s novel recounts the struggles of highly educated young women in contemporary South Korea.

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com. 



📢 COVID-19 precautions were taken to ensure the safety of the production team.

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast 



Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo)

Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)



0:00 “Korean Teachers” is about… 👩🏻‍🏫👩🏻‍🏫👩🏻‍🏫👩🏻‍🏫

1:37 What made Su-jin write “Korean Teachers” 🍎

2:42 The dark side of the Korean language boom 🇰🇷

4:35 Student visa misuse & unfair evaluation systems

07:59 Navigating cultural differences 🌏

09:45 Sexism in the workplace

11:13 Attitudes toward sexual harassment and women 

14:23 “You’re married, why do you still work so hard?” ⚭

16:31 Surviving a toxic workplace 

22:05 Have things changed?

24:47: New books 👀📚

For our April episode, we spoke with award-winning literary translator and writer Sora Kim-Russell, whose translation of Hwang Sok-young's “At Dusk” was nominated for the International Booker Prize in 2019. She has won various translation awards, including the Shirley Jackson Award for her translation of Pyun Hye-young’s “The Hole.” Her translations have appeared in the New Yorker and Harper’s Magazine, among many others.

In this wide-ranging interview, we asked Sora to evaluate a Korean-to-English translation by ChatGPT of an excerpt from a short story. She shared her opinions on the impact of machine translation on the industry, her experiences as a veteran literary translator, as well as her personal process for selecting and translating works. This year, she will have two works published: a co-translation with Youngjae Josephine Bae of “Mater 2-10” (“철도원 삼대”) by Hwang Sok-yong and “The Owl Cries” (“서쪽 숲에 갔다”) by Pyun Hye-young. You can find her on Twitter at @spacenakji or see her work at sorakimrussell.com.

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com.

📢 COVID-19 precautions were taken to ensure the safety of the production team.

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast

Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo)
Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)

0:00 Introducing Sora Kim-Russell 🖋️
1:25 How Sora got into translation and what keeps her going 🔥
06:13 Is there greater demand for translations and interest in translation? 📈
08:55 Recent changes to translation prize criteria around AI 🏆
10:39 Evaluating ChatGPT-aided translations as a judge 👩🏻‍⚖️
12:54 Sora’s take on a ChatGPT-translated excerpt of an idiom 📝
16:37 Human vs. machine translation 🖳👩👨
18:52 Translating idiosyncrasies of the Korean language 🇰🇷
24:56 How Sora chooses which works to translate 📚
27:15 Upcoming publications in 2023 📅