I am a literary translator working from and into Korean. I have called many places home, including South Korea, the US, Canada, and most recently Singapore. I’ve studied and worked in marketing but now that feels like another lifetime. Since 2013, my life has been translation. Or maybe all my life. I am a Smoking Tiger and am repped by Safae El-Ouahabi at RCW Literary Agency.
BOOK TRANSLATIONS INTO ENGLISH
- Teddy Bears Never Die by Cho Yeeun (Wildfire, forthcoming)
- The Legends of MeoShín’Ké: An Illustrated Guide to Korean Monsters and Mythology by Hwa Hwa Studio (Andrews McMeel, forthcoming)
- Shoko’s Smile by Choi Eunyoung (Penguin Books, John Murray, 2021)
- I’m Waiting for You: And Other Stories by Kim Bo-Young (co-translated with Sophie Bowman, Harper Voyager, 2021)
- Tower by Bae Myung-hoon (Honford Star, 2021)
- Secrets behind Things That Look Good by Claire Langju Lee (Influential, 2017)
- Digital Playground: 10 Building Blocks of Digital Marketing by Thomas Hongtack Kim (JoongAng M&B, 2015)
BOOK TRANSLATIONS INTO KOREAN
- 인생의 봄에는 할 일이 참 많습니다 by Anna Mary Robertson Moses (Suo Books, 2023)
- 모지스 할머니의 크리스마스 선물 by Anna Mary Robertson Moses (Suo Books, 2019)
- 인생에서 너무 늦은 때란 없습니다 [Grandma Moses: My Life’s History] by Anna Mary Robertson Moses (Suo Books, 2017)
ANTHOLOGIES
- Best Literary Translations 2025 (Deep Vellum, 2025)
SHORTER TRANSLATIONS
- The Aspiration for Cha-Ka-Ta-Pa by Bae Myung-hoon (The Kenyon Review)
- I Came to This Land And by Hwang Geum-nyeo (chogwa)
- You’re the Poem by Jaewon Che (chogwa)
- A Wish by Park Seo-won (chogwa)
- Blossom of a Joke by Heo Su-gyeong(chogwa)
- Candlelit Table by Park Wan-suh (Korean Literature Now)
- Sister, My Little Soonae by Choi Eunyoung (Azaela)
- Taklamakan Misdelivery by Bae Myung-hoon (Asymptote Journal)
- Shoko’s Smile by Choi Eunyoung (Korean Literature Now)
- Carol by Lee Jae Ryang (Korean Literature Now)
- Five Poems by Geppetto (Korean Literature Now)
- Door to Sadness by Lee Chae Won (IWP, University of Iowa)
- “Segyeong Bonpuri” [Origins of the Harvest Deities] (MA thesis)
WRITING
- “행동하는 번역가들의 동행” (자음과 모음)
- 『타워』의 재건축 현장 일지” (문학과 지성사 블로그)
- Webtoon series with Yerong (Korean Literature Now):
INTERVIEWS
- “Sung Ryu’s translation of Shoko’s Smile” by Harshaneeyam podcast
- “Inside the Process of Translating Korean Literature” by Brandon J. Choi (Electric Literature)
- “Betweenness Is Also a Spectrum” by Project Between
- “What Does It Mean to be a Social Outcast in Korea?” by Jae-Yeon Yoo (Electric Literature)
- “Meet the Translator: Interview with Sung Ryu” by Lauren (Where There’s Ink There’s Paper)
EVENTS
- [문학주간 2022] 한국문학과 해외문학, 둘 사이의 번역가 with 문호영 번역가, 김현우 읻다 대표
- [한국문학번역원 특강] 번역가로 버티기
- “Sung Ryu and Anton Hur: We’re Literary Translators Translating from Korean to English. This is Our Story” on Montez Press Radio
- [우리동작장애인자립생활센터] 전문 프리랜서 번역사의 일과 진로(김헌용 선생님과의 수다)
- [Sant Jordi NYC 2021] Letters Across Spacetime with Author Kim Bo-Young and Translators Sophie Bowman and Sung Ryu
- [KCCUK] Choi Eunyoung in Conversation with Sung Ryu
- [KCCUK] Kim Bo-Young in Conversation with Sophie Bowman and Sung Ryu
RESIDENCIES
- Art Omi Writers 2023 Fall residency
- Art Omi 2019 Translation Lab