Han Kang Surpassed... President Lee's "In the End, the People Do It" Tops Bestseller List in First Half of Year

Political Books Dominate the First Half of the Year
Han Kang's Novels Remain Popular

The best-selling book in the first half of this year was President Lee Jaemyung's In the End, the People Do It. According to the bestseller rankings for the first half of this year released by Yes24 on June 9, In the End, the People Do It claimed the top spot, surpassing Han Kang's novel The Boy Is Coming. The book market in the first half of this year was strongly influenced by the political climate, which shifted from the declaration of martial law to the presidential election.

The best-selling book in the first half of this year was President Lee Jaemyung's In the End, the People Do It. Ohmybook

During this period, The Reading of Youth by author Yoo Simin, who represented the progressive camp, ranked third, while The People Come First by former People Power Party leader Han Donghoon, who led the party during the martial law phase, ranked ninth. Other titles with relatively high rankings included STOP THE STEAL: The Supreme Court's Record of Concealing Election Fraud (30th), Beneficial Conservatism, Righteous Progressivism (45th), and The Supreme Court's Decision on the Impeachment of President Yoon Sukyeol (46th). In the midst of political upheaval following the 12·3 Martial Law, sales of books in the social sciences category increased by 46.5% compared to the same period last year. With the onset of impeachment proceedings, sales of books related to the "Constitution" surged thirteenfold compared to the same period last year.

Books by Han Kang, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature last year, continued to enjoy strong popularity. Following The Boy Is Coming, which ranked second among bestsellers in the first half of the year, I Do Not Bid Farewell (13th), The Vegetarian (15th), Light and Thread (18th), and I Put Dinner in the Drawer (32nd) all maintained steady readership. The popularity of novels sparked by Han Kang was carried on by works such as Contradiction by Yang Gwija (11th), Rapids by Jung Daegun (25th), Stoner by John Williams (20th), Such Small Things by Claire Keegan (28th), and Honmono by Sung Haena (66th). In addition, Yes24 identified the popularity of handwriting practice books, growing interest in artificial intelligence (AI), and the strong performance of e-books in the learning category as key trends for the first half of the year.