Taipei: "I was a foreign wanderer when I came to Taiwan a year ago," Kim Tae-sung quipped, reflecting on a transition that was as unexpected as it was deliberate. The Seoul-born translator moved to Taiwan in February 2025, leaving his family behind to immerse himself in the culture he had spent decades translating. As he approaches his 67th birthday, Kim has translated more than 20 books by Taiwanese authors into Korean, becoming a key figure in promoting Taiwanese literature in South Korea. In recognition of his work, he was awarded a Grade-III Medal of Culture by Taiwan's Ministry of Culture in September 2025.
According to Focus Taiwan, Kim's journey into Chinese literature was serendipitous. Despite holding a Ph.D. in Chinese studies, Kim initially preferred French but enrolled in the Department of Chinese at Hankuk University due to lower score requirements. His interest in the field blossomed unexpectedly during his final semester in college. A pivotal moment came in 1983 when he first visited Taiwan, which at the time had diplomatic ties with South Korea. It was during this visit that Kim met poet Lin Huan-chang and embarked on his first translation project, a task he inherited by chance after a colleague was unable to complete it.
Kim's dedication to Taiwanese literature is evident in his extensive personal collection of approximately 2,500 volumes by Taiwanese authors. He advocates for recognizing Taiwan's literary scene as distinct from the broader Sinophone world, emphasizing its unique language and historical concerns. Kim's most successful translation, Kevin Chen's "Ghost Town," has sold around 30,000 copies in South Korea since 2023. He notes that Taiwanese literature offers a linguistic complexity and storytelling depth that sets it apart from Chinese works.
In translating Tiunn Ka-si³ng's "Late Night Patrol of the Abandoned God," Kim identified the distinct identity of Taiwanese, influenced by Dutch, Japanese, and Indigenous languages. He chose to use Korean notes to denote when characters speak Taiwanese, reflecting his belief in the language's growing prominence. Kim supports the idea of Taiwanese becoming a major writing language in Taiwan, despite the challenges it presents to translators.
Kim's move to Taiwan was partly motivated by political events in South Korea, specifically President Yoon Suk Yeol's brief declaration of martial law in December 2024. This event, which Kim perceived as a regression of democracy, spurred his decision to relocate. Now residing in a modest suite in New Taipei's Luzhou District, Kim cherishes his personal space. His collection of 8,000 books, including 2,500 Taiwanese works, surpasses the holdings of any single library in South Korea, and he aspires to establish a library in his home country to share these works.
Despite the growing interest in Taiwanese literature in South Korea, Kim advises new translators to read extensively and exercise humility in their linguistic abilities. With 12 Taiwanese works currently on his agenda, Kim remains committed to promoting Taiwanese literature. "I love Taiwan literature," he states, "and I'm going to keep introducing it."