Jungmu's novel “Poverty Therapist” launches in South Korea

Korean author Jungmu’s long‑form novel “Poverty Therapist” is set for publication on 1 August 2024 by METRIC. The book, which won the Milliroute award on the platform Milly’s Library in February 2024, depicts a fictional corporate middle‑manager, Jeong Gu‑min, who quits his job via a vlog, then re‑brands himself as a YouTuber, bestseller author, high‑ticket coach and investment mentor.

The narrative presents the “success industry” – YouTube, best‑selling self‑help books, expensive coaching programs and investment products – from the seller’s perspective, using black‑comedy to expose how personal desperation is turned into a monetised formula. All persons and organisations in the story are fictional and do not refer to real individuals or companies.

The novel’s structure mimics self‑development manuals with workbook‑style sections such as “core keyword” and “one‑line formula”, reinforcing its critique of how self‑help rhetoric is engineered and sold.