Overseas Korean Cultural Centers as Hubs for the Global Expansion of Korean Literature

Joo Sweden Korean Cultural Center Picture Book Exhibition
LA Korean Cultural Center Festival of Books Participation

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 4th that it will promote the overseas expansion of Korean literature centered on Korean Cultural Centers abroad. Various events will be held throughout the year.

Yong Hoseong, Director of the International Cultural Promotion Policy Office, stated, "Domestic books are forming a new Korean Wave," and added, "In line with this trend, we plan to strengthen cooperation not only with related domestic institutions but also with local bookstores, festivals, and cultural and artistic organizations."

This is a promising challenge. Recently, the status of domestic books has greatly increased. Last month, poet Kim Hyesoon's poetry collection Wings of Illusion became the first Korean work to receive the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Lee Geumi's Aloha, My Moms was shortlisted for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. According to a survey on the status of the Korean Wave overseas, the favorability toward Korean publications also rose from 64.6% in 2018 to 70.3% last year.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism utilizes cultural centers as bases. The Korean Cultural Center in Sweden will exhibit eighty Korean picture books from the 5th to the 30th. Local interest in Korean literature is considerable. Last month, multiple events for Han Kang’s new work Do Not Say Goodbye were sold out. A cultural center official said, "Since Baek Heena became the first Korean to receive the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award locally, interest in Korean children's literature has also been growing."

The Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles (LA), USA, will introduce Korean books at this month’s Festival of Books. The Festival of Books is a book festival attended by more than 150,000 people annually. To attract attention, the cultural center invited Jeong Bora, author of The Rabbit's Curse, which was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize International category, to give lectures and hold autograph sessions. The Korean Cultural Center in Poland will introduce Cheon Myeongkwan’s Whale at the Conrad Festival, a prestigious literary festival held annually in Krakow, a UNESCO City of Literature.

The Korean Cultural Center in Sydney will hold a "Korean Literature Week" in July at the bookstore Gertrude & Alice located at Bondi Beach, Sydney. They will exhibit noteworthy books and hold reading groups. The Korean Cultural Center in the UK will operate a "Korean Culture Month" in October at Foyles Charing Cross, a representative local bookstore. They plan to introduce Korean literature directly to customers and engage in communication.

This month, the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam will hold a Korean Literature Theater Festival, the Korean Cultural Center in Spain will hold a publication celebration for Kim Hyejin’s Listening, and the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines will hold a traditional fairy tale reading session. The Korean Cultural Center in Mexico will hold a picture book translation contest in July, and the Korean Cultural Center in Indonesia will hold an exhibition titled "K-Book: The New Future of the Korean Wave" in October.