Director’s bookshelf offers clues to ‘The King’s Warden’ phenomenon

For years, Jang Hang-jun was more readily recognized as the sweet and caring husband of star screenwriter Kim Eun-hee. This year, he has stepped into the spotlight in his own name.

“The King’s Warden,” directed by Jang, surpassed 10 million tickets sold on March 6, emerging as a ray of hope for a local film industry that has struggled to regain momentum in recent years.

The box office phenomenon has also sparked a broader cultural ripple: tourists are flocking to Cheongnyeongpo in Yeongwol, the historic film’s primary setting, while books related to the dethroned King Danjong have seen a surge in sales.

By admissions, it now ranks third all-time, drawing 15 million viewers in a country of about 51 million. It also became the highest-grossing film in South Korean box office history, with 142.5 billion won in cumulative ticket sales.

Before his box office triumph, Jang was already a familiar face on talk shows, variety programs and YouTube, known for his quick wit and easy humor. Among many of his colleagues, he is just as often remembered for his abiding love of books. They recall him as someone who was almost always in the library during his school years — even if it meant skipping classes at times.

Jang recalls reading voraciously during his school years; he felt “anxious” when his nose was removed from between a book's pages. In high school, he wrote poetry and short fiction of his own, an early sign of the literary sensibility and historical curiosity that would later shape his work.

These days, he says with a shrug, he reads less than he used to. And yet, in recent YouTube appearances he continues to return to books.

So what sits on the shelves of the director behind a box office phenomenon?

Cheon Myeong-kwans's 'Whale'

Long before "Whale" by Cheon Myeong-kwan was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2023, Jang had been naming it, time and again, as one of his all-time favorite books.

Their connection goes back years. The two worked at the same screenwriting company, where Cheon was the senior writer. Their paths later diverged — Jang into television, Cheon remaining in film before turning to fiction. Cheon's debut novel, "Whale," went on to win the Munhakdongne Novel Award in 2004.

Jang, who makes a habit of reading prize-winning works, picked up the book at the time without paying much attention to the author. Drawn in by its gripping voice, he looked up the writer’s profile — only to realize it was his former colleague, eventually reconnecting with him.

“Whale” unfolds the intertwined fates of three women in a sweeping narrative. The adventure-satire novel traces human desire, ambition and downfall through their lives.

Jang has described the book as dreamlike and mythic, laced with folkloric elements, yet stubbornly tactile — a story that clings to life in all its messiness. It is, as he has put it, almost cinematic in its scale.

Plutarch’s 'Parallel Lives'

Another formative read is “Parallel Lives,” by Greco-Roman philosopher and historian Plutarch, the classical series of paired biographies of Greek and Roman figures written to illuminate their shared virtues and failings.

Jang says he first encountered the book in a children’s edition, later returning to it in its full form time and again. He says he was captivated by the legendary heroes and kings who seemed to make the impossible possible.

Poet Kim Su-young

Jang has said he has long had an affinity for poetry, writing verses of his own since high school.

He recalls a college entrance interview in which a professor asked about his special talents. Jang answered that he wrote poetry and went on to recite several pieces from memory, including poems he loved as well as his own. He won admission.

Among poets, he names Kim Su-young (1921-68) as a favorite. One of the leading contemporary poets of the 1950s and ’60s, Kim's work gave voice to freedom and resistance in the era of postwar political repression. Jang cites the poet’s defiant spirit and his relentless effort to remain awake to the world.

Celeb Reads explores how K-pop stars, actors and other public figures are reshaping the publishing world through heartfelt book recommendations that revive forgotten titles and create new bestsellers. The series highlights the books that shaped them — and may shape your next read. — Ed.