Netizens Are Furious About A Book’s Korean Translation Changing A Character’s Weight From 70 Kg To 48 Kg

Netizens recently discovered that the Korean translation of an American novel mistranslated a part about a character’s weight, raising the issue of Korean beauty standards.

This photo is for illustrative purposes only. | Unsplash

On September 12, an online community post was filled with angry Korean netizens in regard to the 1966 novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress being translated differently in the Korean version. The novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein is a science fiction novel that was translated into Korean about 20 years ago.

| Amazon

In the original novel, there was a part describing a female character. The original quote said:

She was ‘little’ only to Shorty. I’m not short, 175 cm., but she was taller—180, I learned later, and massed 70 kilos, all curves and as blond as Shorty was Black.

— Robert A. Heinlein in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

However, in the Korean translation, instead of 180 cm and 70 kg, it was changed to 168 cm and 48 kg. In the Korean version, the female character in question became shorter than the narrator, who claims to be 175 cm.

A picture of page 31 of the Korean translation shows the mistranslation. | @fatig_ue/Twitter

However, she was just a ‘small’ lady to Shorty. I’m not exactly short, standing at 175 centimeters. However, she was slightly smaller than me. I later found out that she was 168 centimeters tall. Her weight was 48 kilograms. Her figure was perfect, and she was a bright blonde, opposite of the Black Shorty.

— A translation of the Korean translation

Netizens tagged Korean publisher Golden Bough who was the publisher for the Korean version of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, and demanded them to change it.

Another netizen posted the Japanese translation of the same quote, showing that it stayed true to the original text.

Even the Japanese version properly states 180 cm and 70 kg, so I don’t know the reason why the Korean version changed it. ????

— @Megaminano

Netizens expressed their anger at the person responsible for changing the height and weight of a character to be shorter and weigh less. Many people claimed that the mistranslation must have been done by someone with a stereotypical view of beauty standards for women.

| theqoo

• “????? So what do they gain from this? Lol”
• “It’s not even a difficult sentence that would cause a translating mistake, so you can’t help but say it was a mistranslation.”
• “How can a translator dare to change what the author established?”
• “It’s not paraphrasing, it’s a mistranslation.”
• “What’s wrong with them… Really… Is the translator short?”
• “..? It’s hard to mistranslate like that; they must have had a purpose to change it like that.”
• “They completely broke the character.”
• “Wow, then this means the publisher must have fabricated stuff like this for other books.”
• “I think people have a sense of inferiority against tall girls.”
• “Wow… lol. Are women in print not allowed to be taller or better than them?”
• “They don’t even need to clarify who changed it or why it was changed. It’s transparent.”
• “Do they believe that a beautiful and bright blonde with a perfect figure isn’t allowed to be 180 cm and 70 kg?”
• “Wait, how can they change 180 to 168?”
• “I’m curious who edited it… lol. They must be 169 cm LOL.”
• “If the original author knew, he would probably be flabbergasted to have his character changed completely when it’s just supposed to be translated.”
• “This is the world’s greatest small dick energy…… What’s wrong with Korea?”
• “Isn’t 48 kg at 168 cm almost a state of starvation? You need to be at least 57 kg to have a slim figure.”
• “168 cm and 48 kg, I can’t lol. This must be the default female adult image for them… Sigh.”
• “It must have been changed by a jerk shorter than 180 cm.”
• “It’s clear it was an idiot with a fantasy about women.”
• “Everyone around the world knows numbers, so there’s no way the editor could say it was the translator’s mistake and not fix it… LOL. The editor must know how to read numbers and ‘kilos’, right? I’m dumbfounded.”
• “Are they allowed to change it however they like? I’m speechless.”
• “Are they crazy? If the author was alive and sued them, it would be completely understandable.”

The Korean edition of “The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress” was published in 2009. | Kyobo Books

The publisher Golden Dough eventually responded to the situation and clarified what happened. They responded to a netizen who tweeted and tagged the publishers and shared a conversation.

Golden Dough: Hello, as this was a translation from a long time ago, it is taking a while for the translator to confirm. Therefore, I decided to look for the original translation document from 20 years ago. In the 2004 translation, it says, “However, she was taller than me. I later found out that she was 180 centimeters tall. And her weight was 70 kilograms.”

Netizen: Thank you for checking. Was the 2004 translation also done by translator Ahn Jeong Hee? The book was published in 2009, so was the translation done five years in advance?

Golden Dough: Yes, based on the document translated in 2004, it seems like it was not immediately edited due to internal personnel issues and was put on hold until it was published in 2009. I plan to compare the original translation and the published manuscript.

Netizen: Thank you for checking. It seems that the mistake was not on the part of the translator but perhaps an issue with the intermediate editor or other staff members (who may have left the company). I’m concerned that this thread might cause trouble for Translator Ahn, so I might delete it soon or lock my account.

If the translator could provide final confirmation when they have time and are not busy, it would be greatly appreciated. Is it possible to make corrections to an e-book since retaking a paper book would be challenging?

Golden Dough: Hello, I will mention the translator once they respond. As for e-books, we will verify the manuscript, compare it to see if there are any other issues, and make corrections accordingly. For paper books, we will make corrections during the reprinting process. I apologize again for any inconvenience caused.

Later, Golden Dough clarified after speaking with the translator:

Hello, I have spoken with the translator, and we had a conversation. It seems that the translator does not remember who the editor was at that time, as it was a long time ago. Also, the translator mentioned that they are not the type to intentionally change the manuscript to be different from the original. I apologized for any trouble this may have caused and informed them about the corrective measures we will take.

— Golden Dough

After conversing with the book’s publisher, it was concluded that the original translation had the original 180 cm/70 kg, so it was another employee who made the error in the process. The original poster claimed that they did not want the translator to receive the blame.

With Korean beauty standards emphasizing a particular look, usually a very slim figure, this translation rubbed netizens the wrong way.