Han Kang's 'Human Acts' most-borrowed book at public libraries in 2025

Home > Culture > Books

Published: 02 Feb. 2026, 09:07

This undated file photo shows Han Kang's 2014 work ″Human Acts″ on display at a bookstore. [YONHAP]

Nobel literature laureate Han Kang's novel "Human Acts" (2014) was the most-borrowed book at public libraries across the country last year, government data showed Sunday.

The book was borrowed 60,504 times at 1,583 public libraries across the country, with the renowned writer's other works, "The Vegetarian" (2007) and "We Do Not Part" (2021), ranking second and third, respectively, according to the data compiled by the National Library of Korea.

"Human Acts" tells the story of a young boy named Dong-ho who is killed in the military's bloody crackdown during the Gwangju pro-democracy uprising in May 1980.

"Seventeen of Han Kang's works were among the top 1,000 most-borrowed books in 2025 following her Nobel literature prize win," a library source said, noting that "The White Book" (2016) also came in at seventh.

Alongside Han's books, Korean literature books were popular among library users last year, accounting for 25 percent of all borrowed books, according to the data.

Yonhap