Requests from overseas publishers for Korean-language literature translation and publication support jumped 145.5 percent between 2021 and 2025, rising from 156 cases to 383, according to Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, a surge the ministry is meeting with a sharp increase in funding for literary promotion.
The ministry’s literature promotion budget is set to grow from 46.7 billion won to 82.7 billion won, an increase of 36 billion won, funding that flows in large part through the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea), which provides sample translations, synopses and support for the international rights deals that turn a Korean novel or story collection into a book available to English, French, Japanese or other foreign-language readers.
As of April 2026, LTI Korea had announced translation support for 41 separate literary works under its latest funding cycle, part of a pipeline that has become increasingly important as global interest in Korean fiction, poetry and genre writing has grown following the international breakthroughs of authors like Han Kang, whose 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature is frequently cited by Korean publishing officials as a watershed moment for the country’s literary export ambitions.
The funding increase and rising application numbers together suggest Korean publishing officials view the current moment as a genuine inflection point rather than a temporary spike, betting that sustained investment in translation infrastructure can convert growing curiosity about Korean literature into a durable export category alongside K-pop, K-drama and K-beauty.
Source: Newspim, “K-Literature’s Global Expansion Lacks a ‘Control Tower,'” June 5, 2026.
