'Minumsa TV' Live Broadcast Sparks Buzz
'Hangang' Works Sold Out in Bookstores
Online Sales Surge by Thousands
"That's Han Kang, right? I think they said Korea? Wow"
These were the voices of employees appearing on the live broadcast of 'MinumsaTV,' a YouTube channel operated by Minumsa, around 8 p.m. on the 10th. On that day, about 3,000 viewers watched the Minumsa live broadcast together.
Live footage of YouTube channel 'MinumsaTV' at the time of the award [Photo source=Yonhap News/MinumsaTV YouTube capture]
They witnessed the moment when the name of Han Kang, the first Korean novelist to receive the award, was announced. As Han Kang's name was announced, his name kept appearing in the chat room. Comments on this video, which surpassed 200,000 views, included "I'm moved to share the moment of the announcement," "It feels surreal," and "So proud and delighted. We are the country of Han Kang."
It was a joy shared at the moment when Han Kang made new history in Korean literature by becoming the first Korean and the first Asian female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Meanwhile, the publishing industry, enjoying the 'Han Kang effect,' is letting out joyful screams. An unusual 'open run' and 'sold-out frenzy' occurred in bookstores, and sales of Han Kang's books surged hundreds to thousands of times at each bookstore.
On the afternoon of the 11th, a notice was posted at Kyobo Bookstore Gwanghwamun Branch in Jongno-gu, Seoul, stating that the works of novelist Han Kang, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, were sold out. [Photo by Yonhap News]
According to Kyobo Bookstore, as of 2 p.m. on the 11th, about 103,000 copies of Han Kang's books had been sold. The real-time bestseller rankings from 1st to 9th place are all Han Kang's works. The order is The Vegetarian, Human Acts, and We Do Not Say Goodbye. All entered the rankings immediately after the award news was announced. Among these, ranks 1 to 7 are out of stock and are all being sold by pre-order.
Online bookstores are also fully enjoying the Nobel Prize boom. On Aladin, sales of The Vegetarian and Human Acts jumped 901 times and 521 times respectively compared to the previous day. Human Acts sold 18 copies per minute from the moment of the Nobel announcement on the 10th until midnight. This figure is more than twice the record of 7 copies per minute when The Vegetarian won the Man Booker International Prize in 2016. The relatively lesser-known novel White Book saw sales increase by 2,072 times, and We Do Not Say Goodbye increased by 1,719 times.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
