The Second Chance Convenience Store Author Visits Manila
Inside the Kim Ho-Yeon Manila visit, hosted by National Book Store and the Korean Cultural Center
The Second Chance Convenience Store made Kim Ho-Yeon a bestselling author. This week, it also brought him to Manila (his first visit!). The Korean Cultural Center’s (KCC) library hosted the visit, part of an ongoing collaboration between National Book Store and KCC in the Philippines. Journalist Pam Pastor led the talk. The author’s companion, Daniel, translated live for a room of readers, media, and KCC Book Club members.
The conversation moved unhurried, the kind of exchange that happens when people who love the same book finally get to ask the questions they’ve been sitting with for months.
The Original Title is Ironic
Kim explained where the story began. It started with a title, before a single scene existed. In Korean, the novel is called The Inconvenient Convenience Store. That contradiction was intentional.
“Convenience stores are supposed to be convenient,” he said through Daniel. “So why would one feel inconvenient? That question pulled me into the story.”
The Book Came Close to Never Happening
The Second Chance Convenience Store is Kim’s fifth novel. Before it, he spent twenty years writing. His first found a warm reception. The next three didn’t reach quite the same audience.
“My biggest worry wasn’t the writing,” he said. “It was whether this book would ever be published.” It has since sold over two million copies worldwide. It’s now available across National Book Store branches nationwide.
What Book Club Members Want to Know
Readers asked questions from close readings of the novel. One asked about In-kyung, a character not in Kim’s original draft. His editor suggested adding here. Kim listened.
“If the writer is an artist, the editor is a god,” he said. That line landed well with Pastor, a former newspaper editor herself.
Another reader asked which character Kim relates to most. His answer: not Dokgo, the amnesiac protagonist, but Min-sik, a minor character. Readers will see more of him in the upcoming sequel, The Last Chance Convenience Store.
One question asked how the novel’s spirit of second chances applies to everyday life. Kim pointed to an old proverb: it takes a whole town to raise one child. He named a character who takes a chance on a stranger as the kind of neighbor he hopes more communities have.
Where Can Manila Readers Catch Him Next?
The visit closes at the 45th Manila International Book Fair. Kim signs books on Saturday, September 12 from 3:00-5:00 PM at the National Book Store booth, Hall 3 of the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
His books now have a permanent shelf at Seoulful Stories, a new Korean literature nook inside the National Book Store Superbranch at SM Mall of Asia. More branches are planned through 2027.
No one seemed eager to leave once the last question came and went, proof that a good story doesn’t end when the last page does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Kim Ho-Yeon is a South Korean novelist, playwright, and comic book writer. The Second Chance Convenience Store is his fifth novel and first major bestseller, with over two million copies sold worldwide.
Yes. Kim confirmed a follow-up titled The Last Chance Convenience Store. It will expand on Min-sik, a character from the first book.
The novel is available at National Book Store branches nationwide, online, and at the new Seoulful Stories nook inside the NBS Superbranch at SM Mall of Asia.
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