"Trend Korea 2026" Tops for 3 Consecutive Weeks... "Satantango" Rises to Second Place

In the third week of October, Yes24's overall bestseller list saw "Trend Korea 2026," South Korea's leading trend forecast book, maintain its position at number one for the third consecutive week. "Satantango," the signature work of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Laszlo, surged up the rankings to claim second place. "The Docent Book for Museum Travelers," recommended by Korea's first full-time docent Kim Chanyong, ranked third. This book gained popularity after securing funding for more than 1,000 copies during a reader crowdfunding campaign held from September 9 to 28. Following this, author Gu Byeongmo's new novel "Jeolchang" took fourth place, while "Money Trend 2026," South Korea's most trusted economic outlook series, rounded out the top five.

After the holiday, as the fourth quarter began in earnest, more readers showed interest in next year's trends. Notably, "Trend Korea 2026" retained its top spot despite last week's Nobel Prize in Literature announcement. Sales of this book surged by approximately 98% compared to the previous week, proving its unwavering popularity in its third week since official release. Economic and business books also stood out this week. "Money Trend 2026" (5th place) saw a 70% increase in sales compared to the previous week, while "Park Gomhee's Pension Wealth Class" (7th place) and "All About ETF Investing" (10th place) contributed to a total of four economic and business titles in the top 10, and six within the top 20.

"Jeolchang," which ranked fourth, continued to enjoy unrelenting popularity, with sales rising by 44% compared to the previous week, even as it entered its second month since release. The book was especially popular among readers in their 20s (25.7%) who had been eagerly anticipating a new work from Gu Byeongmo. Meanwhile, this week saw a balanced popularity among books across various genres, including history, self-improvement, and the humanities. "The Art of War" (17th place), which conveys the philosophy of Sun Tzu, saw a 72.6% increase in sales compared to the previous week, while "Ubermensch" (6th place) in the humanities category and the self-improvement book "Let Them Theory" (13th place) also drew attention as bestsellers.

The honor of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature went to the Hungarian master Krasznahorkai Laszlo. Within a week of the announcement, Laszlo's signature work "Satantango" climbed to second place overall. In particular, "Satantango" held the top spot for three consecutive days from the day of the award announcement, making it the longest-running number one book in the past decade (2015-2025) after Han Kang. Following the award, sales of Laszlo's works soared by up to 57 times.

According to Yes24's data, among buyers of "Satantango," readers in their 40s accounted for 29.1% of paper book purchases, ranking first, while readers in their 30s led eBook purchases with the same proportion. "Satantango" depicts the process of all efforts to escape the cycle of a ruined life ending in failure and forming an eternal vicious circle, portrayed as an apocalyptic vision of despair. The book was also adapted into a film of the same name in 1994, earning acclaim as a masterpiece.

In Kyobo Bookstore's overall bestseller rankings, "Trend Korea 2026" held the number one spot for the third consecutive week, while Gu Byeongmo's "Jeolchang" and "Heunhan Namnae 20" followed in second and third place, respectively, as they did last week. With the end of the Chuseok holiday, economic outlook books such as "Money Trend 2026" and "Era Forecast: The Birth of Lightweight Civilization" continued to show strong performance.

Thanks to the impact of animated films, Japanese manga continued to enjoy great popularity. Titles such as "Demon Slayer" and "Slam Dunk" attracted attention, and now the film adaptation of a Korean webtoon is also drawing interest. Cho Hyun-a's "Yeon's Letter" topped the comics category and jumped ten spots to 22nd place overall. Webtoon content has gained attention through adaptations into dramas and films, and the enthusiastic response to animation adaptations further demonstrates the power of this content.

With the announcement of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature, interest in Krasznahorkai Laszlo surged, leading to a shortage of his books. Although it was difficult to reflect this in the overall bestseller rankings due to the method of counting based on reader availability, he nevertheless shot to number one in online rankings, affirming the ongoing impact of the Nobel Prize in Literature. While the Nobel-winning work attracted significant interest from readers in their 40s and older, readers in their 20s also showed increased attention to world literature collections and classic novels.