Kim Young-ha's 'The Plotters'... Translator Park In-won Wins 'Korean Literature Translation Award'

From the left in the photo: Park Ji-hye, Jasmine Kevin, Dennis Gephardt, Park In-won, Nguyen Ngoc Que, Ana Gonzalez, Yevgenia Dambaeva

Korean literature is spreading worldwide. Last year, 136 Korean literary works were translated into 24 languages around the globe. Among them is the novel Memoirs of a Murderer by author Kim Young-ha, which was very popular in Korea. It was translated into German last year and received positive responses locally, winning 3rd place in the international category of the German Crime Literature Award and the German Independent Publisher Literary Award. The translation was done by Park In-won, an assistant professor in the Department of German Language and Literature at Ewha Womans University, who was selected as the recipient of the 2021 Korean Literature Translation Award Ministerial Prize.

Professor Park had previously translated works by Eun Hee-kyung, Seong Seok-je, Kim Ae-ran, and Kim Young-ha into German. At a press conference held on the 7th, Professor Park said, “Having lived in Germany for nine years during my childhood, German feels like my mother tongue,” but added, “Translation is always difficult. How can a perfect translation be possible? I focused on conveying the atmosphere and characteristics of the work.” He continued, “The German edition has gone through three printings and is also available as an audiobook,” adding, “The themes of dementia and the detective narrative structure seem to have appealed to German readers.”

Kim Bu-sik’s Samguk Sagi 2 was translated into Vietnamese. Nguyen Ngoc Quyet, a professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies who handled the translation and received the Translation Award Director’s Prize, said, “The more you read Samguk Sagi 2, the more Vietnamese culture comes to mind.” He added, “Korean culture is currently very popular in Vietnam. There are more than thirty universities in Vietnam with Korean language departments, most of which offer Korean literature courses. Many university students are especially interested.” He also noted, “Nowadays, even without government support, many Vietnamese private publishers translate and publish Korean works.” So far, he has introduced Korean literature to Vietnam by translating Simcheongjeon, Hong Gil-dongjeon, and Kim Ryeo-ryeong’s novel Thorn Confession.

Nine newcomers received the New Translator Award. Two works, chosen from modern, contemporary, and classical literature, were translated into nine languages. Five pieces of Gangdo Mongyurok were translated into English, French, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese, while four pieces of Here We Face Each Other were translated into German, Spanish, Russian, and Arabic.

Meanwhile, among the New Translator Award recipients, Park Ji-hye expressed, “Due to the steadily decreasing translation fees, it is difficult to make a living from translation. Even if a work becomes popular, it is hard for translators to gain recognition.” She also confessed, “I feel a sense of crisis as artificial intelligence (AI) seems likely to translate literature soon.”

The Korean Literature Translation Award Translation Grand Prize was established in 1993 to honor outstanding Korean literary works published worldwide. The New Translator Award recipients were Park Ji-hye (English), Jasmin Kevin (French), Dennis Gebhardt (German), Ana Gonzalez (Spanish), Yevgeniya Dambaeva (Russian), Jo Gayuk (Chinese), Birch Miwa (Japanese), Nguyen Oc Mai Thi (Vietnamese), and Salma Mohammad Ahmad Hasanen (Arabic).

The Ministerial Prize winner of the Translation Grand Prize receives a cash award of 20 million KRW, the Director’s Prize winner receives 10 million KRW, and the New Translator Award winners receive 5 million KRW each.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.