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K-pop, K-movies, a Nobel prize … and now K-poetry: book of wise words adds to Korea’s cultural glory
After Han Kang’s Nobel award and South Korean cinema hits, Penguin publishes new English edition of maxims by Lee Seong-bok in wake of US success
The work, which was printed in translation last year by a tiny specialist American press, unexpectedly sold out in bookstores, prompting four quick reprints, while the publisher spent his evenings sending out copies across the world. The original youth music trend has since been matched by the success of a string of influential South Korean television dramas such as the Netflix hit Squid Game and the award-winning films Parasite and Decision to Leave. Photograph: TCD/Prod.DB/AlamyThe award-winning Swedish translator Anton Hur, known for his work on the bestseller I Want to Die But I Still Want to Eat Tteokbokki, discovered the Lee Seong-bok collection in a Seoul bookshop and was instantly beguiled.
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