Culture Ministry secures 48.5 billion won to support translated Korean literature

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Culture Ministry secures 48.5 billion won to support translated Korean literature

Published: 16 Oct. 2024, 18:19

LEE JIAN
lee.jian@joongang.co.kr

Books by the South Korean writer Han Kang displayed at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Kang has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. [AP]

The Culture Ministry announced that it secured a higher budget to support translated Korean books following Han Kang’s Nobel win last week.

It is set to spend 48.5 billion won ($35.4 million) to promote literature in 2025, a 7.4 percent increase from this year.

In particular, the Culture Ministry allocated 7.66 billion won to the Literature Translation Institute of Korea, a public institution supporting Korean literature and culture overseas. Of this amount, 3.12 billion won will support the publication of translated books and 4.54 billion won will go toward promoting them. The publication budget increased by 800 million won while the promotion budget increased by 450 million won.

The budget for books and translations had consistently been on a downward spiral for the past two years, but the ministry has recovered those numbers for next year, anticipating that Han's Nobel Prize for Literature will increase the demand for translations from domestic and foreign publishers.

“The government has consistently supported author Han Kang in terms of her translated works, and as much as her case has been successful, the government will expand its support for local authors and build a system that will lead to their global success,” said Shin Eun-hyang, an arts policy officer at the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism. “We will also build a safety net for artists and writers so as to ensure that they can continue with their creative works despite difficult conditions.”

BY LEE JIAN [lee,jian2joongang.co.kr]