홍길동전

The Tale of Hong Gildong — Korean classic attributed to Heo Gyun

The classic Joseon tale of Hong Gildong, the brilliant son forbidden to call his father 'father', retold as a graded reader that starts at absolute-beginner Korean and quietly climbs to B1. An assassin in the night, the gentleman bandits of Hwalbindang, eight identical Gildongs, and a new kingdom where no one asks who your mother is.

A1–B1 40 chapters 4,968 words Free

Read chapter 1 free Read it in the app

Chapters

What level is The Tale of Hong Gildong in Korean?

It starts at A1 and climbs gradually to B1. Each chapter introduces a little new vocabulary, so you're always reading just above your comfort zone.

How long is it?

40 chapters and about 5,000 words in total, using roughly 1,300 different word forms.

Is it free?

Yes — this is a free book in the ReadNative app. You can also read the first 40 chapters right here in your browser.

Does it have audio?

Not yet. You can read it with tap-to-translate and sentence translations; narration is currently available on the Chinese books.

New to Korean? Start with how ReadNative teaches Korean or our guide How to learn Korean by reading.