If you are interested in Korean cinema, many excellent books are available to provide deeper insights. With global interest surging, numerous new releases are produced each year. Here are some recommended books that will enhance your understanding of the broad scope of Korean cinema.
I have no personal connection to any of the recommended books, nor do I receive any financial benefits from purchases made through connected links. They are provided for the sole purpose of easy access if any recommendations interest you.
Books I Have Read & Recommend
The South Korean Film Renaissance by Jinhee Choi
Parameters of Disavow by Jinsoo An
Korean Film Directors: PARK Chan-wook by Kim Young-jin
Bong Joon Ho: Dissident Cinema by Karen Han
The Hidden Gems: The Undiscovered Best in Korean Cinema by Yoo Hyounjeong
FILM KOREA by Michael Leader & Jake Cunningham
Korean Cinema: The New Hong Kong by Anthony C.Y. Leong
Contemporary Korean Cinema: Culture, Identity and Politics by Hyangjin Lee
Refocus – The Films of Kim Ki-young by Chung-kang Kim
Korean Film Directors: BONG Joon-ho by Ji-youn Jung
Books I Own But Have Not Yet Read
New Korean Cinema by Chi-Yun Shin & Julian Stringer
Korean Cinema in Global Contexts (Post-Colonial Phantom, Blockbuster and Trans-Cinema) by Soyoung Kim
Korean Film Directors: SHIN Sang-ok by Yi Hyo-in
Korean Film Directors: LEE Chang-dong by Kim Young-jin
Korean Film Directors: IM Kwon-taek by Sung-ill Chung
Korean Film Directors: HONG Sangsoo by Moonyung Huh
Film Melodrama and the Cold War in the Two Koreas by Travis Workman
Fate and Freedom in Korean Historical Films by Kyung Moon Hwang
Cold War Cosmopolitanism Period Style in 1950s Korean Cinema by Christina Klein
Celluloid Democracy: Cinema and Politics in Cold War South Korea by Hieyoon Kim
Im Kwon-Taek: The Making of a Korean National Cinema by David E. James, Kyung Hyun Kim
Books I Have Listed for Future Purchase
Seoul Searching: Culture and Identity in Contemporary Korean Cinema by Frances Gateward
The Korean Popular Culture Reader by Kyung Hyun Kim
Healing Historical Trauma in South Korean Film and Literature by Chungmoo Choi
The Remasculinization of Korean Cinema (Asia-Pacific: Culture, Politics, and Society) by Kyung Hyun Kim
The History of Korean Cinema by Young-il Lee, Young-chol Choe
New Korean Cinema: Breaking the Waves by Darcy Paquet
Rediscovering Korean Cinema (Perspectives On Contemporary Korea) by Sangjoon Lee
The Films of Bong Joon Ho by Nam Lee
The South Korean Film Industry (Perspectives On Contemporary Korea) by Sangjoon Lee, Dal Yong Jin
The Korean Cinema Book by Nikki Lee, Julian Stringer
ReFocus: The Films of Yim Soon-rye by Molly Kim
Korean Horror Cinema by Alison Peirse, Daniel Martin
Hallyuwood: The Ultimate Guide to Korean Cinema by Bastian Meiresonne
Kim Ki-duk (Contemporary Film Directors) by Hye Seung Chung
Kim Ki-duk by Kim Ki-duk
Sovereign Violence: Ethics and South Korean Cinema in the New Millennium by Steve Choe
Korean Film and Festivals: Global Transcultural Flows by Hyunseon Lee
South Korean Golden Age Melodrama: Gender, Genre, and National Cinema by Kyung Hyun Kim