Han River Reading Boom... 1 in 4 Adults Say "I Don't Want to Read"

Korea Gallup Survey of 1,001 Adults Aged 18 and Over
Hangang Ranks 8th Among Favorite Korean Novelists

Two out of ten adults have read a novel by Han Kang, the first Korean author to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and half of the respondents expressed their intention to read her works in the future, according to a survey.

Korea Gallup conducted a survey from the 15th to the 17th of last month targeting 1,001 people nationwide aged 18 and older regarding Han Kang's works and her Nobel Prize in Literature award. As a result, 21% of respondents said they had "read Han Kang's novels," and 55% said they "intend to read them in the future." However, 24% answered that they have never read her works and do not intend to read them going forward.

On the 15th, books by author Han Kang, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, are being exhibited at the Central Hall of the National Assembly Library in Yeouido, Seoul. To commemorate Han Kang's Nobel Prize in Literature, which marked a new chapter in Korean literature, the National Assembly Library is holding a special exhibition titled "Han Kang, the First Korean Nobel Laureate in Literature" for about two months starting from this day. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Among those who have read Han Kang's novels, women in their 20s to 50s were relatively more common (20s women 31%, 30s women 27%, 40s women 34%, 50s women 29%). Additionally, the higher the subjective socioeconomic status (upper and upper-middle class 36%, lower class 9%), the more likely they were to have read her works. When asked which of Han Kang's novels they most wanted to read or recommend, 'The Vegetarian' (22%) and 'Human Acts' (21%) were ranked first and second by a narrow margin. 'The Vegetarian' won the 2016 Man Booker International Prize in the UK, and 'Human Acts' is a novel about the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement. Other works mentioned include 'White,' which deals with the color white, and 'I Do Not Say Goodbye,' based on the Jeju 4.3 Incident, with 1.3% and 1.1% respectively.

When respondents were asked whether Han Kang's Nobel Prize in Literature was an honor for the author personally or for the nation, answers were almost evenly split: "an honor for the author personally" (31%), "an honor for the nation" (30%), and "both" (35%). By age group, those in their 20s and 30s tended to view it as a personal achievement, while those aged 40 and above often associated it with national significance. Sixty percent of people in their 20s and 48% in their 30s said the Nobel Prize was an honor for the author personally, but 7 to 8 out of 10 respondents aged 40 and above said the award was also meaningful for the country.

Meanwhile, in May, Han Kang ranked within the top 10 for the first time in the category of Korea's most beloved novelists. The first place was Park Kyung-ni (6%), author of 'Toji,' who passed away in 2008, followed by Lee Oisoo (4.9%), Jo Jung-rae (3.8%), Gong Ji-young (3.7%), Kim Yu-jeong and Park Wan-seo (each 3.2%), and Lee Mun-yol (3.1%). Han Kang received 3.0%, ranking 8th, with Kim Jin-myung (2.1%) in 9th and Shin Kyung-sook (1.6%) in 10th place.