20 Must-Read Historical Fiction Books Set in Korea

The story follows Yi Jin, a court docket woman to the empress through the Joseon Dynasty in the late nineteenth century. When a visiting French diplomat sees Yin Jin dance, he falls in love. Then, he asks her hand in marriage and takes her to the comforts of France.

But issues usually are not all the time as they seem: Yin Jin misses house regardless of residing a way more free life in France. So she returns to Korea — nevertheless it’s not the homecoming she expects.

The story, which is about in early 1900s Korea and later in Japan, facilities on Sunja’s dalliance with Hansu, a dashing and rich man. As she falls in love and turns into pregnant, she learns he’s married and has a household in Japan. Sunja is unable to marry him as a result of, on the time, society disapproved of girls who turn out to be pregnant earlier than marriage. Rather, she weds a distinct man, who then takes her to Japan.

This saga follows the story of a household from Korea to Japan, spanning many generations. It was tailored as a TV sequence for Apple TV.

This younger grownup fantasy, which takes place in the Joseon Dynasty in 1758, facilities on Hyeon, an illegitimate little one who finally makes her approach as a palace nurse. There’s a homicide thriller involving 4 ladies in the palace, making Hyeon nervous as her good friend and mentor is regarded as concerned in the case.

To clear her good friend’s title, Hyeon makes an investigation herself, which reveals {that a} police inspector, Eoijin, can be doing the identical. They each uncover that the prince is the assassin, and Hyeon and Eoijin band collectively to seek out out the reality.

The story takes place through the Japanese occupation of Korea. It follows the siblings Sun-hee and Tae-yul as they recount their experiences through the conflict, throughout which they had been pressured to study Japanese, undertake Japanese names, and overlook their Korean roots.

They dwell with their father, Abuji, and their uncle, who defies the Japanese authorities. Fearing arrest and homicide, nonetheless, the uncle packs his belongings and flees. The guide then follows the siblings’ lives through the Japanese occupation.

The guide tells fictional accounts of six characters who participated in the Gwangju Uprising in 1980. Many protesters had been killed and imprisoned by the Korean navy on the time; these protests may have been in response to a former president’s totalitarian rule. It was a big however little-known occasion in Korean historical past.

Human Acts follows the six characters who face the aftermath of the revolt, a few of whom are nonetheless traumatized years later after dropping their family members.

The story takes place in the early 1900s, throughout Japan’s occupation of Korea. It begins with a hunter making an attempt to trace down a younger tiger in the forest.

Fast ahead to a different narrative, which follows two protagonists: Jade, who’s bought to a courtesan faculty to flee poverty, and JungHo, a beggar boy residing on the streets of Seoul and the hunter’s son. Since then, their lives have turn out to be intertwined, forming a powerful friendship bond.

However, as they get older, their destinies diverge. Jade turns into extra profitable, whereas JungHo turns into concerned in the struggle for Korea’s independence.

Set in Japan-occupied Korea, the story follows Najin, a younger girl whose father follows conventional values however whose mom doesn’t.

The father needs Najin to marry, however the mom refuses. Instead, she sends Najin to the royal court docket to study alongside princesses. There, Najin finally turns into a trainer and meets the person of her desires. As the nation descends into conflict, nonetheless, her life is shattered as she will get separated from her husband.

The story is about in postwar Korea and follows a lady who should make a tough resolution.

Sonju falls in love along with her greatest good friend, and the 2 plan to marry. Unlike different ladies on the time, Sonju has liberated beliefs and doesn’t conform to society’s expectations of her as a lady. However, her mother and father uncover this and drive her to marry a rich countryman for whom she has no romantic connection. Having no alternative left, she uproots herself and strikes to a distant province.

As the Korean War erupts, Sonju could have a second likelihood at romance.

The story is about in Japan-occupied Korea and follows the lives of two ladies of various social lessons. Sunam, a poor lady, is purchased into the household as a servant by Chaeryeong, the daughter of a rich man in Korea. As they get older, Chaeryeong develops emotions for a person who actively helps Korean independence and participates in protests. As a consequence, she’s additionally interrogated.

With their futures in jeopardy, Chaeryeong’s father requests that Sunam assume her daughter’s id, however she as an alternative turns into a consolation girl. Meanwhile, Chaeryeong adjustments her title, marries a Japanese man, and flees to the United States.

As the Japanese go away Korea and the nation rebuilds, the 2 ladies try to reclaim their previous lives.

Relevant and well timed, the story focuses on labor exploitation and the struggle for employees’ rights.

Set in Korea, the saga follows Jino as he protests towards a manufacturing facility that abruptly closes to relocate its headquarters. As Jino continues to protest for days, the story flashes again to the Japanese interval, when a lot of his ancestors, who labored as rail employees for the Japanese, additionally did the identical factor.

The novel, which takes place in colonial Korea in the Nineteen Forties, follows Cheon as he travels to Manchuria in an try to persuade a symphony orchestra to carry out in Seoul. He meets the Russian dancer Nadia there.

The guide has some romantic parts as their relationship is difficult by two ladies, Danyeong and Miryeo, who each pine for Cheon. Written as a serialized newspaper sequence in the Nineteen Forties, the guide depicts how folks in that period perform in relationships, in addition to the expectations in constructing a household.

The novel is offered as a real story or a historic account of a homicide that occurred in a palace through the Joseon Dynasty across the 1800s. It offers a glimpse into the thorny court docket politics and the scheming that happens when royals search to carry onto energy.

As they examine the homicide, they uncover that the perpetrator resides inside the palace itself.

Content warning: sexual assault

The story revolves round mom and son, Ollye and Mansik, and is about through the Korean War in a distant village that appears largely unaffected by the conflict. Then, peace is shattered when the UN military establishes a base camp close to the village.

Some of those males sexually abuse Ollye, making her a shame to all the group. This has an impression on her son, who’s shunned by his friends. In many international locations, many UN peacekeepers have been accused of sexual assault.

An aged girl in South Korea recounts her practically century-long life experiences, starting with the early days of Japanese occupation, ending with the Korean War, and persevering with to the current. Throughout her life, she grew to become a spy, a consolation girl, a mom, and all the things else.

Each of those distinctive experiences is split into eight tales that present perspective and a quick historical past of Korea as seen by means of the eyes of a lady.

The household saga follows Jeonga, a 105-year-old girl who should make amends and difficulty “the apology” to her circle of relatives. At the start of the story, she receives a letter from the U.S. requiring her to journey there. She dies alongside the way in which, nonetheless.

Jeonga has many epiphanies about what she did whereas in limbo. The story flashes again to the Korean War, recounting her tense relationship along with her sisters, one in every of whom ran away and eloped with a person to North Korea, by no means to be seen once more. Another is when she despatched her son’s illegitimate little one and the mom to the U.S. Jeonga has many regrets that she should apologize to maneuver on in the afterlife.

The guide follows 12-year-old Sora and eight-year-old Youngsoo in Nineteen Fifties Korea when the Japanese have left the nation. That temporary respite is fleeting, nonetheless. The Korean War looms, with North and South Korea at conflict with one another. Civilians, like Sora and Youngsoo, are caught up in the battle. When the town is bombed, the siblings are separated from their mother and father.

To survive, they need to cross the border into South Korea and, hopefully, discover their approach to their mother and father in Busan, the place they are going to be staying.

The story follows 16-year-old Haemi through the Korean War in the Nineteen Fifties. She is buddies with Kyungwhan, nevertheless it’s clear that they’ve emotions for one another. However, Haemi meets Jisoo, Kyungwhan’s rich cousin. At the time, Haemi should resolve which boy to marry.

She should select between marrying the love of her life and marrying the one who lifts her out of poverty.

The story is about in North Korea throughout World War II and follows 13-year-old Miyook. Her household owns the Hundred Choices Department Store, which caters to rich Japanese slightly than Koreans. With their enterprise, her household has some privileges that different Koreans don’t have.

Things start to crumble, nonetheless, when the Russians arrive and the conflict resumes. They destroy the town and set fireplace to many buildings, together with the household enterprise. Miyook’s household should flee.

The story relies on the lifetime of Korean poet Yun Dong-ju and is about throughout World War II when the Japanese took over Korea. It all begins when younger guard Watanabe investigates the homicide of his fellow guard Sugiyama at Fukuoka Prison. Someone murdered the guard, and Watanabe is tasked to seek out out who the perpetrator is.

Sugiyama is a recognized torturer of prisoners, however as Watanabe delves additional, he discovers that not all the things is because it seems.

Set in 1426 through the Joseon Dynasty in Korea, this YA fantasy follows two sisters, Hwani and Maeyol, as they reunite to seek out their lacking father. Their father was investigating a latest thriller of lacking women in a forest, which the 2 sisters had been part of years earlier than. They had been found unconscious in a forest, their reminiscences of the occasion worn out.

The two sisters’ relationship has since soured. But now, they’ve come collectively to seek out their father and resolve the thriller as soon as and for all.