CITY · SOUTH KOREABooks set in Seoul
37.566, 126.978
28 books · 23 authors · 1978–2025
28 books here
Most-set authors
Han Kang (3) · Hwang Sok-yong (2) · Kim Young-ha (2) · Kyung-sook Shin (2) · Sohn Won-pyung (1) · David Mitchell (1)
Genres
literary fiction (15) · science fiction (1) · fantasy (1) · historical fiction (1) · thriller & suspense (1)
Books set here
Set in Seoul (24)
Almond
Sohn Won-pyung
Seoul bookstore coming-of-age
At Dusk
Hwang Sok-yong
Urban development
Cursed Bunny
Bora Chung
Urban Korean setting; stories depict patriarchy and capitalism in modern Seoul
Dallergut Dream Department Store
Miye Lee
Magical department store
Fortune Smiles
Adam Johnson
Seoul where North Korean defectors struggle to adapt in the title story — the dominant setting of the collection
Free Food for Millionaires
Min Jin Lee
Korean immigrant life
Greek Lessons
Han Kang
Greek language classroom
I Have the Right to Destroy Myself
Kim Young-ha
1990s urban Seoul
If I Had Your Face
Frances Cha
Cosmetic surgery salons
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982
Cho Nam-joo
Jiyoung life as Korean woman
Love in the Big City
Sang Young Park
primary setting
Luminous
Silvia Park
reunified Korea near-future
Mater 2-10
Hwang Sok-yong
Yeongdeungpo Seoul — laid-off worker's chimney sit-in
Our Happy Time
Gong Ji-young
Domestic violence memoir
Please Look After Mom
Shin Kyung-sook
family searches for lost mother
Please Look After Mom
Kyung-sook Shin
Seoul Station subway — mother disappears in the crowd; city where adult children live
The Court Dancer
Kyung-sook Shin
Royal court dancer
The Dwarf
Cho Se-hui
Post-war urban reconstruction
The Hole
Pyun Hye-young
Hospital where Oghi is confined after the accident; claustrophobic recovery setting
The Old Woman with the Knife
Gu Byeong-Mo
Seoul, South Korea, aging assassin living in urban apartment
The Plotters
Un-su Kim
Primary setting
The Vegetarian
Han Kang
primary setting
Y/N
Esther Yi
K-pop Seoul — obsessive search for the retired idol Moon
Your Republic Is Calling You
Kim Young-ha
single-day Seoul spy thriller
Also featuring Seoul (4)
Cloud Atlas
David Mitchell
Sonmi-451 dystopian clone narrative, 2144
Crying in H Mart
Michelle Zauner
Grandmother's apartment; treasured visits deepening Zauner's Korean identity
Skinship
Yoon Choi
Stories opening onto Seoul; connections to the homeland across the diaspora
We Do Not Part
Han Kang
where Inseon fled and narrator is based
Notable locations in Seoul
Gangnam, Seoul1Gyeongbokgung Palace area, Seoul1
