Books priced around 10,000 won now at 140,000 won... 'Han Kang Fever' Spreads in the Used Market

'The Boy Is Coming' and Others Sell 530,000 Copies in Three Days
First Editions and Signed Copies Traded at Dozens of Times the List Price

Amid the surge in 'reading Han Kang' following her Nobel Prize in Literature win, most of Han Kang's works sold in domestic bookstores are out of stock.

Publishers who have released Han Kang's books and printing houses in the Paju Publishing Complex are operating 24 hours a day, and Han Kang's works are expected to be restocked around the 16th at the earliest. Some readers even travel to the outskirts of the metropolitan area or to provinces specifically to find Han Kang's works. However, local conditions are not much different from Seoul, and it seems difficult to find Han Kang's works even in small bookstore-level shops.

On the 11th, citizens visiting Kyobo Bookstore in Jongno-gu, Seoul, are purchasing books by Han Kang, the author who won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Swedish Academy selected Korean novelist Han Kang as the Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. Han Kang is the first Korean writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
[Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@]

Above all, as it becomes harder to obtain new books, the prices of used books have also surged. Looking at the prices of used books on Aladin, an online used bookstore, representative works such as "I Will Not Part With You" and "The Boy Who Escaped," recommended by Han Kang, are mostly listed at new book prices. Some used book dealers list items at 10% off the retail price or even at full retail price without any discount. Some dealers have even registered books priced at 15,000 won at as high as 140,000 won, targeting readers desperately searching for the works. There are also many cases where books are listed in the 40,000 to 50,000 won range.

Above all, as it has become difficult to obtain new books, the prices of used books have also surged. Looking at the prices of used books on Aladin, an online used bookstore, most of the representative works recommended by Han Kang, such as "We Do Not Say Goodbye" and "The Boy Is Coming," are listed at new book prices.
[Photo by Aladin]

After the Nobel Prize news broke on the night of the 10th, most of the approximately 300,000 copies in stock at major large bookstores nationwide were sold. Tens of thousands of copies in local bookstores were also mostly sold, and it is estimated that about 350,000 copies were completely sold out within a day or two. The overseas situation is similar. According to foreign media, not only in Japan, where the reading population is still large and bookstores remain strong, but also in Europe, including the UK and France, both translated versions and Korean originals have sold out. When the Korean Cultural Center in London released its stock to a local large bookstore, it sold out in just one day.

In particular, in Japan, the paper book version of "I Will Not Part With You" temporarily ran out of stock on the online shopping mall Amazon Japan, and the restock date has not yet been determined. Other books can only be purchased as used books or e-books. As of 6 p.m. the previous day, on Amazon Japan's "Books I Want" ranking, "The Vegetarian" was 6th and "I Will Not Part With You" was 8th. On the website of the large bookstore Kinokuniya, notices have been posted stating that orders for "I Will Not Part With You," "White," "The Vegetarian," and "The Boy Who Escaped" have ended or cannot be placed.

When Korean author Han Kang was selected as the Nobel Prize in Literature laureate on the 10th, the Kinokuniya Bookstore Shinjuku Main Store, a large bookstore in Tokyo, Japan, set up a special corner for the Nobel Prize in Literature and displayed Han Kang's novels in Japanese editions.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, interest is also rising in the play "The Vegetarian," scheduled to open next month at a theater in Paris. This work, adapted from Han Kang's novel of the same name, will premiere in Paris through a collaboration between the Korean Cultural Center in France and the Italian Cultural Center in France. Han Kang's Nobel Prize win has also heightened expectations for the play.