Nobel Prize winner Han Kang's books fly off the shelves in South Korea

seoul, southbound korea — 

South Koreans flocked to bookstores Friday and crashed websites successful a frenzy to drawback up copies of the enactment of novelist Han Kang successful her location country, aft her unexpected triumph of the 2024 Nobel Prize successful Literature.

However, the writer herself was keeping retired of the limelight.

The country's largest bookstore chain, Kyobo Book Centre, said income of her books had rocketed connected Friday, with stocks astir instantly selling retired and acceptable to beryllium successful abbreviated proviso for the adjacent future.

"This is the archetypal clip a Korean has received a Nobel Prize successful Literature, truthful I was amazed," said Yoon Ki-heon, a 32-year-old visitant astatine a bookstore successful cardinal Seoul.

"South Korea had a mediocre accomplishment successful winning Nobel Prizes, truthful I was amazed by quality that (a writer of) non-English books, which were written successful Korean, won specified a large prize."

Soon aft Thursday's announcement, immoderate bookstore websites could not beryllium accessed owed to dense traffic. Out of the existent 10 bestsellers astatine Kyobo, 9 were Han's books connected Friday morning, according to its website.

Han's father, well-regarded writer Han Seung-won, said the translation of her caller The Vegetarian, her large planetary breakthrough, had led to her winning the Man Booker International Prize successful 2016 and present the Nobel prize.

"My daughter's penning is precise delicate, beauteous and sad," Han Seung-won said.

"So, however you construe that bittersweet condemnation into a overseas connection volition find whether you triumph ... It seems the translator was the close idiosyncratic to construe the unsocial spirit of Korean language."

Han's different books code achy chapters of South Korean history, including Human Acts which examines the 1980 massacre of hundreds of civilians by the South Korean subject successful the metropolis of Gwangju.

Another novel, We Do Not Part, looks astatine the fallout of the 1948-54 massacre connected Jeju island, erstwhile an estimated 10% of the island's colonisation were killed successful an anti-communist purge.

"I truly anticipation souls of the victims and survivors could beryllium healed from symptom and trauma done her book," said Kim Chang-beom, caput of an relation for the bereaved families of the Jeju massacre.

Park Gang-bae, a manager astatine a instauration that honors the victims and supports the bereaved families and survivors of the Gwangju massacre, said helium was "jubilant and moved " by her win.

"The protagonists successful her publication (Human Acts) are radical we conscionable and unrecorded with each day, connected each country here, truthful this is profoundly moving," Park said.

Han's begetter told reporters connected Friday that she whitethorn proceed to shun the limelight aft giving nary abstracted comments oregon interviews and eschewing media scrutiny since Thursday's win.

"She said fixed the fierce Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Palestine wars and radical dying each day, however could she observe and clasp a joyous property conference?" her begetter said.

Han Kang received the quality of her triumph astir 10 to 15 minutes earlier the announcement, her begetter said, and was truthful amazed that she thought it mightiness beryllium a scam astatine 1 point.