Yes24 Releases 2025 Book Market Insights and Annual Bestseller Trends
Yes24’s 2025 report reveals top bestsellers, rising Korean literature, AI-driven publishing trends, and shifts in politics, finance, and digital reading habits.
사진: Unsplash의Araix Rand
South Korea’s major online bookstore Yes24 has released its comprehensive analysis of 2025 reading trends and bestselling titles, highlighting a year shaped by the renewed rise of Korean literature, shifting political landscapes, accelerating AI influence, and the continued growth of digital reading.
Part 1. 2025 Overall Bestsellers – Korean Literature Leads the Year
One of the most notable themes of 2025 was the strong presence of Korean literary fiction.
Following author Han Kang’s groundbreaking Nobel Prize win, interest in Korean novels surged across all age groups.
Han Kang’s acclaimed work Human Acts claimed the No. 1 overall bestseller spot for the second consecutive year, remaining within the top 10 for more than half the year. Other Korean fiction titles also gained traction, including:
- Honmono by Seong Haena – No. 3 overall
- Mosu(n) by Yang Gui-ja – No. 7 overall
Political and social issues also played a significant role in shaping reading interests.
President Lee Jae-myung’s book The People Make It Happen topped the charts in the first half of the year and finished No. 4 overall, contributing to an 11.1% year-over-year growth in social and political nonfiction.
Several titles from previous years also demonstrated remarkable staying power:
- Koike Ryunosuke’s The Buddha’s Words (Modern Interpretation) – No. 6 overall
- Taesoo’s The Quiet Happiness of Adulthood – No. 5 overall
- One Page a Day: Writing Practice Notebook – No. 10 overall, continuing the “daily handwriting” trend
Bestselling authors also returned with strong new releases.
Yoo Si-min’s expanded edition of Reading for Youth rose to No. 2,
while Kim Young-ha’s essay collection One Life, Once reached No. 8.
In the eBook market, President Lee’s book ranked No. 1, followed by a cluster of popular Korean novels including Honmono, Human Acts, and The Crane’s Seat.
Yes24’s subscription service, Crema Club, reported that Koo Byung-mo’s novel Pachwa, recently adapted into a film, was its most downloaded title.
Part 2. Key Publishing Trends of 2025
1) A New Peak for Korean Literature
Korean literary works dominated charts across categories.
Han Kang’s novels—including Human Acts, Goodbye, Not Farewell, and The Vegetarian—maintained strong sales momentum.
Her 2025 essay collection Light and Thread debuted at No. 1 in daily bestsellers immediately upon release.
Rising young authors also made their mark.
Seong Haena’s Honmono spent seven consecutive weeks at No. 1, supported heavily by readers in their 20s and 30s.
2) Surge of Political & Social Nonfiction
A rapidly shifting political climate—impeachment, early elections, and national debates—led to strong growth in books on politics, law, and democracy.
- Social/political nonfiction sales: +11.1% YoY
- Constitutional law books: 6× increase
- Democracy-related titles ranked high across categories
Political leaders’ books also performed exceptionally well, with works by Lee Jae-myung, Han Dong-hoon, and Cho Kuk appearing prominently in annual rankings.
3) The AI Wave Sweeps Every Category
AI was the single most defining theme of 2025 publishing.
New releases on artificial intelligence reached over 2,300 titles, nearly doubling last year’s output.
Ethan Mollick’s Dual Brain was the top-selling AI book of the year, leading the self-development category for nine consecutive weeks.
4) Continuing Popularity of Handwriting & Journaling Books
Despite the digital overload, books encouraging slow reading and handwritten practice saw 64.7% sales growth, extending a two-year upward trend.
One Page a Day: Vocabulary Writing Notebook once again led the handwriting category, with numerous similar titles in humanities, education, and self-help.
Comics and manga also expanded rapidly, boosted by anime hits like Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man.
5) Rapid Growth of Digital Study Materials
eBook study guides and academic resources experienced significant expansion, especially among teens and college students.
- eBook study category sales: +11% YoY
- K–12 reference book eBooks: +130% YoY
Yes24 strengthened its digital learning ecosystem by upgrading handwriting and annotation features in its eBook app.
Subscription service Crema Club also reported a growing share of readers in their 20s, reflecting changing reading habits among younger audiences.
Part 3. Category Leaders of 2025
Influential authors, YouTubers, and celebrities held top positions across various segments:
- Cooking & Home: Lifetime Recipes by actor Ryu Soo-young
- Children: I’m Glad I’m Me
- Health: Slow Aging Diet
- Arts: Grandma at the Museum by popular creator “Grandma Art”
- History: Progressive History for the Future
- Self-help: 100-Day Writing Notebook for Adults
- Science: Carl Sagan’s Cosmos (No. 1 for the third consecutive year)
A range of essays, humanities titles, and young adult books rounded out the list as the most influential works of 2025.
Source Acknowledgment
This article is an independently written summary based on publicly shared data and press information originally distributed by Newswire Korea and Yes24. The text has been fully restructured and paraphrased for clarity and originality.