In Korea, an ordinary life is often treated as one that falls short, says Han Gru, a professor at Fairfield University in Connecticut and the creator of the life-advice YouTube channel newyorkcrab, which has about 90,000 subscribers. In his new memoir, "I've Decided to Live Like an Enlightened Wild Animal" (literal translation), Han reflects on the value of an unremarkable life, suggesting that there is nothing wrong with not being exceptional — and that the pressure to become so can make people

A new Korean novel explores the quiet comforts of food and human connection through 15 interwoven stories drawn from ordinary life. Set against the backdrop of everyday routines — exhausting commutes home, the pressures of prolonged exam preparation and unexpected crises at work — Lee Su-min's debut novel "When You Start With Something Delicious" (literal translation) follows seemingly ordinary people navigating moments of uncertainty and change. While fatigue and emotional numbness have become

"Creamy(nal) Love" By Lee Hee-joo Munhakdongne Publishing In recent years, much of South Korean fiction translated abroad has leaned toward science fiction or what critics call “healing fiction” — gentle, empathetic stories that capture quiet slices of everyday life. But Lee Hee-joo has taken a decidedly different path. Her work delves into distorted desire and the chaos it leaves behind, offering readers an unsettling glimpse into the darker edges of affection. Since debuting in 2016 with "Phan

"The Seashell Within" By Kim Cho-yeop Rabbit Hole Another leading voice in South Korean science fiction, Kim Cho-yeop is set to make her English-translation debut next April with "If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light," forthcoming from Simon & Schuster and already sold to more than 10 countries. Her first story collection, a stunning and poignant work of speculative fiction, established her as a bestseller and helped bring Korean SF into the mainstream, with more than 400,000 copies sold here.

"Where No One Comes" By Cheon Seon-ran Hubble From the android jockeys of "A Thousand Blues" to the vampires of "Midnight Shift," Cheon Seon-ran, one of Korea’s leading voices in science fiction, has explored the boundaries between the human and the nonhuman, loss and survival, salvation and care. Now, she returns with a zombie apocalypse. “The most tragic apocalypse is the zombie,” she writes in the opening lines of her new three-part novella. Here, Cheon’s undead are not the mindless monsters

"Trans-Pacific Express" By Djuna Moonji Publishing Djuna, a pioneering figure in Korean science fiction, has reissued "Trans-Pacific Express," one of their most celebrated works, over two decades after its first release. The book collects 12 stories, including the title piece, which follows a protagonist whose family has, for generations, lived aboard an international train that runs over the Pacific Ocean. The story centers on rescuing a child from ritual sacrifice in a fictional country that s

"Cutting Wound" By Gu Byeong-mo Munhakdongne Publishing Gu Byeong-mo, one of Korea’s most imaginative storytellers, returns with "Cutting Wound," a haunting tale of a woman who can “read” another’s mind by touching their wounds. Orphaned and raised in an institution, she discovers her gift when she presses her hand to a friend’s bleeding cut and suddenly hears a flood of thoughts. Yet she grows up uncertain how to use this power. That changes when she meets Moon O-eon, a shrewd businessman who

“Eight out of 10 female trainees don’t menstruate,” says a member of an entertainment company’s trainee development team. Days begin at 5 a.m. and end after 2 a.m., and some trainees spend entire weeks drinking only water to stay thin. Behind K-pop’s glittering image lie the punishing routines endured by aspiring idols. Today, with BTS, Blackpink and "KPop Demon Hunters" at the pinnacle of K-pop's global fame, the genre has become Korea’s most celebrated export. But alongside these triumphs come

Star literary writer Kim Young-ha of “I Have the Right to Destroy Myself,” “Black Flower” and “Diary of a Murderer” has returned with his most “personal” work to date: a memoir-style essay collection titled “One Life Only.” This is Kim's first essay collection in six years, since “Reasons for Travel,” which sold more than 600,000 copies here. Drawn from and heavily revised from his 2024 subscription email newsletter “Young-ha’s Weather” (which can also be interpreted as “Below Freezing”), the co

"The Time Thief" By Sonder Hanki Sometimes we are too busy or having so much fun that time seems to fly. But we know we actually all have the same 24 hours in a day -- or don't we? Maybe not in this novel. Ha-jin, heartbroken after a breakup, spends her time aimlessly drifting. To sort out her emotions, she visits her hometown, where she is drawn to her grandmother’s cuckoo clock and later brings it home. After a few days, while mindlessly staring at the clock, Ha-jin spots something strange --