Escape to South Korea without leaving your couch! These books serve up history, heartbreak, and kimchi-fueled adventures.
Ever find yourself daydreaming about wandering the neon-lit streets of Seoul, snacking on tteokbokki in a back alley, or catching a glimpse of cherry blossoms fluttering across a palace courtyard? South Korea is a place where ancient palaces sit next to skyscrapers, where K-pop meets centuries-old poetry, and where food, fashion, and storytelling are taken very seriously.
If a plane ticket isn’t in the cards right now (or you just want to mentally teleport somewhere new), books can take you there. These eight reads will immerse you in the soul, streets, struggles, and sweetness of South Korea.
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is a short but searing novel that became a cultural phenomenon in South Korea and that actually sparked major discussions about gender inequality.
It follows the life of an “ordinary” woman, Kim Jiyoung, who begins to show signs of strange behavior.
What seems like a personal psychological crisis soon unravels into a mirror of South Korean society, revealing the pressures, microaggressions, and systemic injustices faced by women from childhood to adulthood.
When you read this story, you’ll gain a real insight into the social fabric of modern South Korea through the everyday rhythms of Jiyoung’s life, her experiences at school, with work, marriage, and even motherhood.
The Plotters by Un-Su Kim
In need of something a bit darker and cinematic? We’ve got the book for you. The Plotters is a high-octane literary thriller that’s like almost a mash-up of John Wick and The Catcher in the Rye, with a South Korean twist.
Set in an alternate Seoul where hitmen are part of a secret organization orchestrated by mysterious “plotters,” the book follows Reseng, a reluctant assassin raised in a library full of weapons. It’s sharp, violent, stylish, and actually, somehow, unexpectedly philosophical.
It shows a grittier, noir side of Seoul, full of smoky alleyways, underground clubs, and moral grey areas, and yet still has plenty of deadpan humor to keep you on your toes.
Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin
Get ready to cry. Seriously. This book is like a gut-punch wrapped in glorious, beautiful prose. It starts with a mother going missing in a crowded Seoul train station and then follows the perspectives of her children and husband.
As the family searches for her, they begin to reflect on the woman they barely knew. They begin to realize her sacrifices, her struggles, and how often she went unseen. It’s a deeply Korean story about piety, motherhood, and regret, but its emotional truths are universal.
It manages to perfectly capture both rural Korean life and bustling Seoul with such intimacy that you’ll feel like you’re flipping through a family photo album.
I Have the Right to Destroy Myself by Kim Young-ha
Now here’s one that’s a little edgy, a little surreal, and very Korean in its existential pondering. At just over 100 pages, this novella manages to pack a haunting punch.
The story revolves around a mysterious narrator who assists people in committing suicide, but legally and “peacefully,” and the lives of two brothers caught in the narrator’s philosophical orbit.
Set against the backdrop of 1990s Seoul, this is not a cheerful read, but if you love a moody, stylish, and thought-provoking read, then this does that in a very Korean art-house way.
You’ll be pulled into Seoul’s art scene, smoky cafés, and urban melancholy, and you’ll feel right at home there.
If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
This debut novel is razor-sharp and wildly engaging. Set in contemporary Seoul, it follows four young women living in the same apartment building, each navigating the harsh pressures of beauty, class, and ambition in a society obsessed with image and status.
There’s Kyuri, a salon girl who caters to wealthy men, Miho, an artist from a prestigious university, Ara, a mute hair stylist obsessed with a K-pop idol, and Wonna, a married woman yearning for stability.
Their voices are vibrant and distinct, and their stories shed light on the undercurrents of modern Korean society and what it really means to be a South Korean woman.
When you flick through this story, you’ll be taken from Gangnam plastic surgery clinics to cramped apartments and rooftop chats, and you’ll really feel like you’re right inside the city.
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
This one’s for anyone who loves a read that is just… a bit… strange.
Relatively well-known, The Vegetarian won the Man Booker International Prize. It’s an eerie, haunting tale about a woman who decides to stop eating meat, and then slowly spirals into something more mysterious and otherworldly.
Told in three parts from the perspectives of her husband, brother-in-law, and sister, this isn’t really about vegetarianism – sorry if you got your hopes up! It’s about control, rebellion, societal norms, and the body. But what it is, though, is beautifully written and emotionally unsettling.
The Vegetarian reveals the inner tensions of a Korean family in a way that’s both intimate and disorienting, like peeking into a dream and not being sure what’s real.
At Dusk by Hwang Sok-yong
This is a quiet, reflective novel that contrasts South Korea’s rapid modernization with the emotional cost it leaves behind. The story follows Park Minwoo, a successful architect who grew up in a poor neighborhood now lost to gentrification. When he receives a mysterious letter from an old friend he hasn’t seen in decades, it stirs memories of youth, love, and the Seoul that once was.
Parallel to his story is that of a struggling young theater artist trying to survive in the same city, which serves to highlight the stark generational and class divides of present-day Korea.
At Dusk takes you into the back alleys, construction sites, and fading memories of old Seoul. It’s a thoughtful, melancholic exploration of identity, memory, and the price of progress.
Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park
Ending on a high (and slightly chaotic) note, this novel is a whirlwind. It follows Young, a gay man in his 20s, who lives in Seoul and is juggling hookups, friendships, and his complicated relationship with his mother. It’s witty, unapologetic, and brimming with messy, vibrant life.
If you’ve ever been young and broke in a big city, this book will hit home. It’s filled with late-night texts, heartbreaks, bad decisions, cigarettes, and just enough hope to keep you turning pages.
The book manages to really capture queer life, millennial malaise, and the pulse of modern Seoul. It’s loud, fast, and real.
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Millie Ramm
Millie has been writing since she was a child, and has spent more time with her nose in books than anywhere else. She has been ghostwriting novels and editing for the past few years, and when not working she is curled up with her cats, looking for her next read.
