Lee Hae-chan Memoir Jumps to No. 1 on YES24 Best-Seller List in Early February

The late former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan’s ranked No. 1 overall on the best-seller list.

According to YES24’s overall best-seller rankings for the first week of February released on Wednesday, the memoir climbed to the top spot as reader interest surged from the previous week.

Sales over the past week were 457 times the book’s total cumulative sales for all of 2025. Readers in their 50s accounted for 43.8% of purchases, followed by those in their 40s at 20.4%.

Professor Lee Gwang-su’s , which held No. 1 for four straight weeks in January, slipped one place to No. 2. The 2025 Akutagawa Prize winner stayed at No. 3. by economic content creator and investment instructor Baek Eok-nam rose one spot to No. 4, and Morgan Housel’s new book followed at No. 5.

Investment and personal finance titles continued to dominate. Three business and economics books placed in the top five overall: (No. 2), (No. 4) and (No. 5). , which has remained popular since its release last June, ranked No. 6, and came in at No. 15. In the “stocks/ETF” category, sales for the week showed a 71.4% increase from the same period a year earlier.

Fiction also held steady, with five novels in the overall top 20. , ranked No. 22, saw sales jump 289 times from the previous week and drew strong interest from women in their 30s and 40s, who made up 56.7% of buyers.

Fortune-teller Park Seong-jun’s , known through broadcasts and YouTube, ranked No. 9 overall and No. 1 in the humanities category. Its sales rose 203% from the previous week. Books in the saju and myeongni category posted a 31.7% week-over-week sales increase.

YES24 overall best-seller list, first week of February

* This article has been translated by AI.

Yoon Juhye jujusun@ajunews.com