New translation of 'Pachinko' to go on sale in Korea this month

Copies of Korean American author Min Jin Lee's ″Pachinko″ [YONHAP]

The Korean edition of "Pachinko" will go back on sale this month, three months after printing was stopped due to translation issues.

Publishing house Influential will release the first of the two books on July 27 and the second in August.

"The initial copies contained many mistranslations," said a staff member from the publishing house. "There were parts that were translated like a Korean novel although this is English literature. In the renewed version, we wanted to better preserve the intentions of the author."

"Pachinko" is written by Korean-American author Min Jin Lee. The new copies were translated by translator Shin Seung-mi.

Lee wrote the novel after living in Japan from 2007 to 2011 and interviewing numerous Zainichi Koreans. The novel was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2017 by the New York Times. The story follows four generations of ethnic Koreans in Japan, known as Zainichi Koreans.

Ethnic Koreans have historically faced severe discrimination in Japanese society and were often only able to operate pachinko — vertical pinball machines mostly used in gambling — parlors as one of their few options of livelihood. Approximately 80 percent of pachinko parlors in Japan are owned by ethnic Koreans.

The book was adapted to Apple TV+’s Korean-language original series “Pachinko” on March 25.

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]