Korean literature needs translator autonomy to reach global readers

Debora Smith, Anton Hur and Choi Mi-kyung called for greater translator autonomy and sustained funding at an international colloquium in Incheon on Thursday. They said Korean literature’s global recognition reflects years of translators’ work but does not guarantee overseas publication. The speakers argued that translators should help select works and apply directly for support, while human judgment remains essential in literary translation and cannot be replaced by AI.

LTI began shifting toward publisher-led translation support in 2014, and its separate grant programs accepting applications directly from translators ended in 2022.

Anton Hur said sample translation funding helps translators pitch books to foreign publishers and argued that translators, not only publishers, should be allowed to apply.

Hur’s translations of Chung Bora’s Cursed Bunny and Park Sang-yong’s Love in the Big City were longlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize, with Cursed Bunny reaching the shortlist.

Debora Smith said much of 20th-century Korean writing, including poetry and nonfiction, remains unavailable in English compared with works from China and Japan.

Choi Mi-kyung uses AI in teaching but requires students to examine its output for errors, while the speakers said literary translation depends on ethical commitments, political sensibilities and lived experience.

Published Oct 8, 2026 9:25 pm KST

Translators call for greater diversity, defend human creativity in age of AI

Translator Deborah Smith, second from right, speaks during an international colloquium "Translation: Texts in Transit" at the Museum of World Writing Systems in Incheon, Thursday, with translators Anton Hur, left, and Choi Mi-kyung, right. Courtesy of Museum of World Writing Systems

INCHEON — Korean literature’s growing international recognition must be matched by sustained translation funding and greater autonomy, translators said Thursday, warning that global success cannot rest on individual passion.

Speaking at “Translation: Text in Transit,” an international colloquium organized by the National Museum of World Writing Systems, Debora Smith, Anton Hur and Choi Mi-kyung called for support that enables translators to discover overlooked works while defending the human judgment behind literary translation.

Smith, who translated the 2016 Man Booker International Prize “The Vegetarian” by Han Kang, recalled choosing to learn Korean when its literature was barely available in British bookstores.

“Now it’s a completely different story. I see Korean literature and translation everywhere,” she said.

Smith and Hur emphasized that the breakthrough reflected years of work by translators across many languages, rather than a single award or author. Han’s Nobel Prize, Hur said, arrived amid Korean literature’s ascent, not before it.

Hur, whose translations of Chung Bora’s “Cursed Bunny” and Park Sang-yong’s “Love in the Big City” were both longlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize, with “Cursed Bunny” advancing to the shortlist, has helped broaden the global readership for Korean literature beyond its best-known authors.

But growing visibility does not guarantee publication.

“The most important thing is that continued translation support,” Hur said. “Publishing a book overseas is always a miracle.”

He pointed to sample translation funding, which helps translators pitch books to foreign publishers, and urged institutions to allow translators, not just publishers, to apply. He also challenged the assumption that K-pop’s popularity would automatically translate into demand for Korean books.

Choi, a professor at Ewha Womans University’s Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation, who moderated the discussion, criticized Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI) policies that she said had shifted initiative toward publishers.

“We have become the objects of administration, rather than its subject,” she said, arguing that translators had lost opportunities to independently choose works and seek support.

From left, translators Anton Hur, Deborah Smith and Choi Mi-kyung attend the international colloquium "Translation: Texts in Transit" at the Museum of World Writing Systems in Incheon, Thursday. Courtesy of Museum of World Writing Systems

LTI began shifting toward publisher-led support in 2014 to prioritize overseas publishing demand over translator-selected projects, and its separate grant programs accepting applications directly from translators ended in 2022.

Recalling her early translations of Hwang Sok-young's writings from while he was in prison, Choi said allowing translators to freely choose challenging projects could bring writers to international readers even without official enthusiasm.

Smith said Korean literature’s current presence in translation is only the beginning, with much of its 20th-century writing, including poetry and nonfiction, still unavailable in English, especially compared to the number of works from neighboring China and Japan.

“I think there does need to be a structural change in the industry as well,” she said.

Love for literature, they explained, cannot sustain translators through exhaustion and burnout. Publishers and institutions should not assume someone will always be willing to undertake the work, the translators agreed.

The speakers also rejected artificial intelligence (AI) as a substitute for literary translators.

Smith said translation draws on ethical commitments, political sensibilities and lived experiences, in addition to linguistic ability.

“So it seems very obvious to me that AI cannot do what individual human translators could do,” she said.

Hur said he avoided AI-generated search results because of inaccuracies and argued that readers ultimately protect human creativity by choosing human-made work.

“Only readers can save us from AI,” he said.

Choi said literary translation requires a deeply personal engagement with the work that machines cannot replicate. Although she uses AI in teaching to familiarize students with tools they may encounter professionally, she requires them to scrutinize its output for errors.

Novelist Hwang Sok-yong also drew a distinction between human creativity and AI’s imitation of it in an earlier session moderated by museum director Kim Myung-in.

“AI does not feel pain or fear death,” he said. “For now, I don’t think people who create need to worry about losing their jobs.”

周四，黛博拉·史密斯、安东·赫尔和崔美京在仁川举行的国际研讨会上呼吁赋予译者更大的自主权和持续的资金支持。他们表示，韩国文学的国际声誉反映了译者多年的辛勤付出，但这并不保证作品能在海外出版。发言者认为，译者应该参与作品的遴选并直接申请资助，同时，人类的判断在文学翻译中仍然至关重要，无法被人工智能取代。

LTI 从 2014 年开始转向由出版商主导的翻译支持，其单独接受译者直接申请的资助计划于 2022 年结束。

安东·胡尔表示，翻译资助样本可以帮助译者向外国出版商推销书籍，并认为应该允许译者（而不仅仅是出版商）申请资助。

许冠文翻译的郑宝拉的《被诅咒的兔子》和朴相勇的《大都市的爱情》入围了 2022 年国际布克奖长名单，《被诅咒的兔子》最终入围短名单。

黛博拉·史密斯表示，与中国和日本的作品相比，20 世纪韩国的许多作品，包括诗歌和非虚构作品，仍然没有英文译本。

崔美京在教学中使用人工智能，但要求学生检查其输出结果是否存在错误；而演讲者则表示，文学翻译取决于道德承诺、政治敏感性和生活经验。

发布于2026年10月8日晚上9:25（韩国标准时间）

译者呼吁提高多样性，捍卫人工智能时代的人类创造力

周四，在仁川世界文字博物馆举行的“翻译：文本的流转”国际研讨会上，译者黛博拉·史密斯（右二）发言，与她一同发言的还有译者安东·胡尔（左）和崔美京（右）。图片由世界文字博物馆提供。

仁川——翻译家们周四表示，韩国文学日益增长的国际认可度必须与持续的翻译资金和更大的自主权相匹配，并警告说，全球成功不能仅仅依靠个人热情。

在由国立世界文字系统博物馆组织的国际研讨会“翻译：文本的传递”上，黛博拉·史密斯、安东·赫尔和崔美京呼吁为译者提供支持，使他们能够发现被忽视的作品，同时捍卫文学翻译背后的人类判断。

史密斯翻译了韩江的《素食者》，该书荣获 2016 年曼布克国际奖。他回忆说，当时英国书店里几乎没有韩语文学作品，所以他才选择学习韩语。

“现在情况完全不同了。我到处都能看到韩国文学和翻译作品，”她说。

史密斯和赫尔强调，这一突破体现的是译者们多年来跨越多种语言所做的努力，而非某一位作家或某一个奖项的功劳。赫尔指出，韩的诺贝尔奖是在韩国文学崛起之际获得的，而非在其崛起之前。

许文杰翻译的郑宝拉的《被诅咒的兔子》和朴相容的《大都市的爱情》均入围了 2022 年国际布克奖长名单，其中《被诅咒的兔子》更是进入了短名单。许文杰的翻译帮助韩国文学的全球读者群扩大，使其超越了韩国最知名的作家。

但知名度的提高并不能保证一定会被发表。

“最重要的是持续的翻译支持，”许先生说。“在海外出版一本书始终是一个奇迹。”

他举例说明了翻译资助项目，该项目旨在帮助译者向外国出版社推介书籍，并敦促各机构允许译者而非仅仅是出版社申请该项目。他还对“韩流的流行会自动转化为对韩国书籍的需求”这一假设提出了质疑。

主持讨论的梨花女子大学翻译研究生院教授崔女士批评了韩国文学翻译院（LTI）的政策，称其将主动权转移到了出版商身上。

“我们已经沦为行政管理的对象，而不是行政管理的主体，”她说道，并指出译者失去了独立选择作品和寻求支持的机会。

周四，译者安东·赫尔、黛博拉·史密斯和崔美京（左起）出席在仁川世界文字博物馆举行的国际研讨会“翻译：文本的流转”。图片由世界文字博物馆提供。

LTI 从 2014 年开始转向由出版商主导的支持，优先考虑海外出版需求，而不是译者选择的项目；其单独接受译者直接申请的资助计划于 2022 年结束。

崔回忆起她早期翻译黄石英在狱中的作品时说，允许译者自由选择具有挑战性的项目，即使没有官方的热情，也能将作家介绍给国际读者。

史密斯表示，韩国文学目前已被翻译成多种语言，但这仅仅是个开始。韩国20世纪的许多作品，包括诗歌和非虚构作品，仍然没有英文译本，尤其与邻国中国和日本的作品数量相比更是如此。

“我认为这个行业也确实需要进行结构性变革，”她说。

他们解释说，对文学的热爱并不能使译者在精疲力竭和职业倦怠的情况下坚持下去。译者们一致认为，出版社和机构不应想当然地认为总会有人愿意承担这项工作。

发言者们还反对使用人工智能（AI）来替代文学翻译。

史密斯说，翻译除了语言能力之外，还依赖于道德承诺、政治敏感性和生活经验。

“所以在我看来，人工智能显然无法做到人工翻译能做到的事情，”她说。

Hur表示，他避免使用人工智能生成的搜索结果，因为这些结果不准确，并认为读者最终会通过选择人类创作的作品来保护人类的创造力。

“只有读者才能拯救我们免受人工智能的侵害，”他说。

崔教授表示，文学翻译需要对作品投入深度个人化的理解和参与，这是机器无法复制的。虽然她在教学中使用人工智能来帮助学生熟悉他们未来可能在专业领域遇到的工具，但她要求学生仔细审查人工智能的输出结果，找出错误。

小说家黄石龙在早前由博物馆馆长金明仁主持的一次会议上也区分了人类的创造力和人工智能对创造力的模仿。

他说：“人工智能不会感到疼痛，也不会惧怕死亡。就目前而言，我认为从事人工智能创造的人们无需担心失业。”