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 UK/Orbit US, forthcoming)
- The Legends of MeoShín’Ké: An Illustrated Guide to Korean Monsters and Mythology by HwaHwa Studio (Andrews McMeel, 2025)
- 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
- 팔레스타인 시선집 [Poems from and for Palestine], co-translated with Rieux Choi, e. yaewon, Jein Han, Hoyoung Moon, Hannah Kim, Mirae Yang, Kyung Hee Youn (접촉면 Contact Surface, 2025)
- 인생의 봄에는 할 일이 참 많습니다 by Anna Mary Robertson Moses (수오서재 Suo Books, 2023)
- 모지스 할머니의 크리스마스 선물 by Anna Mary Robertson Moses (수오서재 Suo Books, 2019)
- 인생에서 너무 늦은 때란 없습니다 [Grandma Moses: My Life’s History] by Anna Mary Robertson Moses (수오서재 Suo Books, 2017)
ANTHOLOGIES
- Best Literary Translations 2025 (Deep Vellum, 2025)
SHORTER TRANSLATIONS
- Meat and Pomegranate by Cho Yeeun (Words Without Borders)
- The Aspiration for Cha-Ka-Ta-Pa by Bae Myung-hoon (The Kenyon Review)
- Wet Eyes and Invincible Belly Button by Kim Mella (Sant Jordi NYC 2025 reading)
- Even the Faintest Light by Choi Eunyoung (Azalea)
- 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 (Azalea)
- 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)