Must-Read Korean Books of 2025: Your Semester Reading List!

Beginning one morning in December, We Do Not Part traces the path of Kyungha as she travels from the city of Seoul into the forests of Jeju Island, to the home of her old friend Inseon. Hospitalized following an accident, Inseon has begged Kyungha to hasten there to feed her beloved pet bird, who will otherwise die.

Kyungha takes the first plane to Jeju, but a snowstorm hits the island the moment she arrives, plunging her into a world of white. Beset by icy wind and snow squalls, she wonders if she will arrive in time to save the bird – or even survive the terrible cold which envelops her with every step. As night falls, she struggles her way to Inseon’s house, unaware as yet of the descent into darkness which awaits her. There, the long-buried story of Inseon’s family surges into light, in dreams and memories passed from mother to daughter, and in a painstakingly assembled archive documenting a terrible massacre on the island seventy years before.

We Do Not Part is a hymn to friendship, a eulogy to the imagination and above all an indictment against forgetting.

— Penguin Books

Jihye is an ordinary woman who has never been extraordinary in her thirty years of life. Even her name Jihye is one of the most ordinary in Korea. And just like every ordinary person, she’s not one to make waves by pointing out the absurdities of Korean bureaucracy or the small acts of injustice around her. But when Gyuok Lee, a new intern, joins the Academy, Jihye recognizes him as the man who once publicly accused a professor there of plagiarism. But this Gyuok seems different from that angry young man Jihye once encountered. In the office, he seems to be just another hard-working employee… until he shows his true colours.

A pacifist version of V in V for Vendetta, Gyuok recruits like-minded people to carry out plans for minor revenge. All four “rebels” he’s recruited in their office have their own reasons to resent society at large.

Together, these four rebels begin to protest the older generation in the form of harmless antics: graffiti, throwing eggs, anonymous exposé, and more. But as their attacks increase, they (and the reader) will discover that even these tiny protests can make change in a world where everyone’s been too busy just getting by.

— HarperCollins UK

2035: In the shadow of a race-course, two sisters grow up, helping their mother at the local cafe that serves renowned ramen. Family life is fractious especially when one of them loses their day-job to an automaton.

What makes the sisters’ hearts sing is their friendship with Today, a nationally famous racehorse. But after a lifetime of over-racing, Today is being sent to the knackers’ yard. Urgently, the sisters plot to rescue their beloved horse. As their plan unfolds, one of them will commit the bravest act of their life.

Narrated by a most unusual and unforgettable storyteller, A Thousand Blues is a healing hymn to the Earth, to animals, to our humanity. Brimming with heart, hope and rage, it is a book to cherish, share and re-read.

— Penguin Books

With heart-wrenching stories of fate and yearning that sparked a social media frenzy in South Korea, Every Moment Was You is an immediate, yet deeply moving collection of short essays about the beauty of youth and the growing pains that come with it. It faithfully captures the intimate, everyday moments of a relationship, from the blooming of first love, to heartbreak, to acceptance.

Ha Tae-Wan’s warm and comforting words offer readers the consolation and strength needed to deal with the pain, stress and sadness that might come with modern life, and also the encouragement to look to the future with positivity and direction.

— Google Books

Open twenty-four hours a day, at first glance The Wizard’s Bakery seems like any ordinary bakery where you can buy bread, cakes, and cookies, with a somewhat grumpy man behind the counter.

At first glance, that is. Because when the young boy who is our protagonist chooses it as a refuge to escape a difficult family situation, the reality he finds is quite different. Baked with the help of a mysterious blue-haired shop assistant, are sweets and pastries with immense powers: madeleines to fix broken hearts, almond bars to unearth memories buried deep within, and cinnamon cookies for your worst enemies.

But each of these items comes with a warning, regardless of the positive or negative effect: the power contained in the treats inevitably alters the order of the world and sometimes produces dramatic consequences for those who consume them, consequences that need to be weighed carefully.

Follow along with our protagonist as he learns about the responsibility that comes with working at this bakery… and most of all, how much people need a little bit magic in their lives.

— Google Books

Seoul Station is home to Dokgo, a man shrouded in mystery with no memories of his past. Until one day his subdued existence is disrupted when he stumbles upon a lost wallet, triggering a chain of events that will change the course of his life.

Enter Mrs. Yeom, a retired history teacher turned convenience store owner, who, upon discovering Dokgo’s act of kindness in returning her purse, offers him a meal as a token of her gratitude. Their chance encounter blossoms into an unexpected alliance when the man’s bravery saves the store from ruin, earning him not just a job but a place in the heart of the neighbourhood.

But just when things are looking up for Dokgo, Mrs. Yeom’s troubled son, eager to sell the store, hires a detective to dig into the mysterious man’s past and unearth what he seems to be trying so hard to forget…

The Second Chance Convenience Store is a moving and joyful story of a woman fighting for her community and a man who has lost everything except the will to try again.

— Pan Macmillan