▲ This July 16, 2026, file photo shows Korean writer Han Kang speaking to reporters in the French city of Avignon. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, July 28 (Yonhap) -- Overseas sales of translated works of Korean literature has topped a record 1.2 million copies last year on the back of an expanding readership across different genres, data showed Tuesday.

Overseas sales of works that received translation or publication support from the Literature Translation Institute (LTI) of Korea reached the figure in 2025, up 228 copies from the previous year, according to data compiled by the institution.

Accumulated sales of 1,026 translated works published in some 40 different languages came to around 3.6 million copies in the 2021-2025 period, it added.

The LTI attributed the strong sales to the growing demand for a diverse range of translated Korean literary works rather than just a few bestsellers.

Meanwhile, among the bestsellers were Nobel laureate Han Kang's "We Do Not Part," which sold some 300,000 copies in 13 countries in the 2023-2035 period.

"Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop," a novel by Hwang Bo-reum sold a combined 88,000 copies, while "The Second Chance Convenience Store" by Kim Ho-yeon sold a combined 66,000 copies, according to the data.

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