Korean Novels Maintain Strong Momentum; “The Boy Who Came” Ranks No. 1 for Two Consecutive Years, with Literature Continuing to Dominate

The most prominent trend in South Korea’s publishing market in 2025 was the surge in Korean literature. According to annual bestseller analyses released by Kyobo Bookstore and Yes24, Han Kang’s novel *The Boy Who Came* topped the overall bestseller list once again, continuing its streak from the previous year. This work, which depicts the tragic events of May 1980 in Gwangju, achieved a historic milestone by remaining at the top of the overall bestseller rankings for two consecutive years according to Kyobo Bookstore data.

The “Han Kang phenomenon,” which began with the author becoming South Korea’s first and Asia’s first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, has expanded into what can be described as a “wave of Korean novels.” At Kyobo Bookstore, half of the top 10 bestsellers—5 titles—were Korean novels, including *Contradiction* by Yang Gwi-ja (No. 2), *Honmono* by Seong Hae-na (No. 4), and *Rapid Current* by Jeong Dae-geon, all of which received significant attention. Yes24 also reported that 3 out of the top 10 bestsellers were Korean novels, and when expanding the list to the top 100, novels accounted for 13 titles, making up the largest share.

This strong presence of literature continued into the new year of 2026. On January 1, Yes24’s overall bestseller No. 1 was Yuui Suzuki’s novel *Goethe Said Everything*. This work by the 2001-born rising star and a rising figure in Japanese literature saw steady sales after winning the Akutagawa Prize in 2025, with public interest further increasing following recommendation on film critic Lee Dong-jin’s YouTube channel “Book of the Month.” This marked the third time in the past decade that a novel topped the bestseller list on New Year’s Day, with Yes24 analyzing that it appears interest in literature has entered another phase of expansion.

The publishing market in 2025 showed varying levels of interest across different periods. In the first half of the year, books in the political and social category performed well. According to Kyobo Bookstore, sales in this category increased by 19.1% compared to the same period the previous year, driven by the impeachment crisis and early presidential elections. In the second half of the year, economic books saw a rebound. Starting in the fourth quarter, as the stock market recovered and the KOSPI index crossed 4,000 for the first time, books on financial management gained attention. Per Yes24’s analysis, sales of investment books related to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) rose by 109.6% compared to the previous year, while sales of books on cryptocurrencies grew by 49.9%.

In addition, various genres showed interesting reading trends. Books related to artificial intelligence (AI) attracted interest, and sales of handwritten copybooks and comic books also increased. Notably, sales of handwritten copybooks at Yes24 rose by 64.7% compared to the previous year, marking the second consecutive year of growth, with the number of new handwritten copybooks more than doubling from 181 to 403 titles. The original comic series *Demon Slayer*, based on the film that topped South Korea’s domestic box office as *Demon Slayer: The Infinite* chapter, saw its sales surge by 11.3 times compared to the same period the previous year following the film’s release. Kyobo Bookstore analyzed this phenomenon by noting that it reflects “fields chosen by young adults” and described it as a “text hip” trend—where print media is favored—in an era of content overload, which has created a new approach to reading.