The cover of "Banned Book Club" by Kim Hyun-sook, Ko Hyung-ju and Ryan Estrada

When the 1980-87 military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan controlled access to information by creating lists of banned books, blocking access to foreign news and persecuting suspected dissidents, Korea's universities were a nexus of subversive activities, from political demonstrations that often clashed violently with police, to secretive groups that shared and read forbidden literature. That situation is dramatized in "Banned Book Club," a 198-page graphic novel by Kim Hyun-sook, Ko Hyung-ju and Ryan Estrada.

Set in 1983, three years after the Gwangju Massacre, the events of the story seem like an ugly, distant past, but "Banned Book Club" is one of many titles facing a flood of requests in the present day to be banned from a handful of libraries and schools across the U.S.

"Korean history is being banned in America!" Estrada warned in a summary of the situation.

He pointed out that it's not just this title that has faced these bans. "Grass," a story about World War II sex slavery by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, faced a ban in a school district in Missouri. "The Color of Earth," a coming-of-age story set in a small Korean village in the late 1800s by Dong Hwa Kim, was banned in a school district in Florida.

A scene from "Banned Book Club" by Kim Hyun-sook, Ko Hyung-ju and Ryan Estrada / Courtesy of Ryan Estrada

"Banned Book Club" is classified as young adult literature, and the School Library Journal recommends it for grades 9 and up.

The book depicts scenes of violent campus protests, as well as scenes of police torturing students. In a "Request for Reconsideration or Review of Instructional Materials," the complainant Bruce Friedman, affiliated with the organization No Left Turn in Education, accuses these scenes of encouraging anti-police sentiment, anti-fascism and anarchism. The word "Antifa," an abbreviation of "anti-fascist" often used as a pejorative, appears handwritten on the form in three places.

Part of a page from the "Request for Reconsideration or Review of Instructional Materials" of "Banned Book Club" submitted to Clay County District Schools in Florida. Screenshot from No Left Turn in Education

The book is based partly on co-author Kim's own experiences growing up in 1980s Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province. Estrada says it was researched thoroughly via first-hand memories, interviews with the real people who experienced similar events, primary documents and historical documents.

It won the Freeman Award, meant to "recognize quality books for children and young adults that contribute meaningfully to an understanding of East and Southeast Asia." It was also named one of the best books of the year by NPR, Young Adult Library Services Association, Texas Library Association, New York Public Library and The Junior Library Guild. It was nominated for Best Memoir at the Eisner Awards. It even became a bestseller on Amazon. The book is taught in schools and universities all over the world.

Co-authors Ryan Estrada and Kim Hyun-sook pose with the Korean edition of their book at the Kyobo bookstore in Busan's Centum City, May 2020. Courtesy of Ryan Estrada

The book was first challenged by Friedman, who submitted to Clay County District Schools in Florida a six-page document detailing why the book should be pulled from shelves.

"According to Florida law, if one single person complains about a book, it must be immediately removed from shelves," Estrada explained. "If a librarian refuses, they can be charged with a felony."

The complaint lists several objectionable contents of the book, including factual statements made about the Burim Book Club, in which 22 students and teachers were imprisoned on false charges of being communist sympathizers. It also highlights an explanation of Chun's "3S" policy (sports, screen and sex) intended to keep people quiet with entertainment, claiming that this knowledge is "creating dangerous anarchists in our schools."

Even the 1970 self-immolation of labor activist Jeon Tae-il is mentioned. "The illustration on the middle-right side of the page depicts a person kneeling on the ground with a book in [his] hand. The person is engulfed in flames," the complaint describes, with an additional handwritten note in the margin that reads, "Charming."

The 1970 self-immolation of Jeon Tae-il is depicted in "Banned Book Club" by Kim Hyun-sook, Ko Hyung-ju and Ryan Estrada. Courtesy of Ryan Estrada

"One scene where a student tells the police 'I have nothing to say to you' ... is singled out as disrespectful and anti-police," Estrada said, "despite the fact that the 'right to remain silent' is a right in America as well. They do not, however, note that the student is saying this after being kidnapped, beaten and tortured. That does not seem to be a concern."

A police interrogation scene from "Banned Book Club" by Kim Hyun-sook, Ko Hyung-ju and Ryan Estrada, is included in a complaint against the book, with a note written by Bruce Friedman. Screenshot from No Left Turn in Education

Every time the book faced a ban in a new state, Estrada would fly there to make an appearance and defend his book. He flew to Florida last summer to challenge the ban there.

"I worked with several organizations to make sure I was doing everything appropriately. But well into planning, local librarians suddenly asked me not to come. No Left Turn in Education had so much power and influence locally that they feared for their jobs and safety if I came," he said. "Instead, I worked with the Florida Freedom to Read Project to set up a standalone event in another city where I could explain how Korea fought back and made their country better. I encouraged local politicians, faith leaders, reporters and citizens to stand up for the freedom to read just as Koreans had so many years before."

Ryan Estrada speaks during a town hall meeting in Florida last June. Courtesy of Florida Freedom to Read Project

After returning to Busan where he lives, he found out the book was also being attacked by Daviess County Citizens for Decency in Kentucky, so he flew out again to attend a local city council meeting and library board meeting.

"Local newspapers and TV stations were shocked that an author had traveled 7,000 miles from Korea to deliver that message," he said.

Ryan Estrada takes a selfie in Daviess County Fiscal Court in the U.S. state of Kentucky after a meeting he attended to defend "Banned Book Club" last November. Courtesy of Ryan Estrada

Next, "Banned Book Club" also faced a ban in Indian River School District in Florida by the group Moms for Liberty.

"When I contacted the woman who challenged the book and told her it was Hyun Sook's true story," Estrada said, "she retracted her challenge, got the book put back on the shelf, and recommended that the district buy copies for every high school and middle school in the district."

Meanwhile, the book faced a fourth challenge, this time in South Carolina.

Estrada takes the situation very seriously, as he sees the tactics depicted in the story playing out in real life.

"We learned in our interviews that banning books is the first step in a dangerous plan to exert fascist control that happens again and again throughout history. And the people banning 'Banned Book Club' were following the playbook exactly," he said. "Banning books had led to threatening to throw librarians in jail. Banning books about trans people had led to politicians threatening to rip trans children away from their families."

An online database of books that No Left Turn in Education Florida had wanted to ban shows a list of titles concerning African American history, Asian culture and queer and trans people.

According to him, the sudden wave of book bannings across the U.S. is not coming from a "grassroots group of concerned parents as they claimed, but a well funded and well organized political movement."

A scene from "Banned Book Club" by Kim Hyun-sook, Ko Hyung-ju and Ryan Estrada / Courtesy of Ryan Estrada

The Washington Post found that 60 percent of all book ban requests in the U.S. in 2021 and 2022 were carried out by only 11 people. "Most of those people do not have children in the districts they are fighting," Estrada added. "Many of them either do not even live in those cities, or moved there recently after getting funding from large political groups who oppose public schools and public libraries."

But Friedman, who says he is entirely self-funded, insists there is no political motivation behind the targeting of particular books, and objected to referring to his actions as an attempt at banning books.

"Placing any book in an age appropriate location is NOT book banning. It is also NOT political," he told The Korea Times. "Like elsewhere, Korea has a violent history and there will likely be more violence in the future. It's a part of human nature. Not my favorite part. I've done a fair job of protecting my son from that violence. I'm aiming to do so for everyone's kids, at least to provide a path that's worthy of the better parts of our nature."

In light of the surprising turn of events, Estrada said, "'Banned Book Club' was already a book about history repeating itself, but we didn't expect history to repeat itself so quickly that our book would become part of it." He added, "The reason we got a book deal is because our publisher was shocked at the idea that a thriving democracy like South Korea had had state-banned books just 30 years earlier. By the time the book came out, not only did America have state-banned books, but our book was one of them."

Estrada's follow-up book, "Occulted," shares a story with similar themes, about former Busan resident Amy Rose's experience using banned books to escape a UFO death cult. "Occulted" hasn't faced any challenges yet, but Estrada thinks it's only a matter of time.

"'Occulted' just got on the radar of the shady Book Morality-Rating website that all the book banners use to choose what books to target. It received the same rating that got 'Banned Book Club' removed from several libraries, so this is likely just the beginning," Estrada said in a Feb. 27 social media post. "The entire message of 'Occulted' is that the ability to read challenging texts can save lives," Estrada said. "Amy didn't know she'd grown up in a dangerous cult until she read books that showed her what was wrong and how to escape. We wrote this book in hope that it could save another kid."