'BTS Deserves Nobel Prize' - Literary Critic Weighs In For Spring Day's Poetic Depth, Compares Band With Bob Dylan

BTS

deserves a Nobel Prize, literary critic Yim Hun-Young thinks. The K-pop band received a nod from Yim, who sent a rare literary praise to BTS, comprising RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook. Yim, the director of the National Museum of Korean Literature, believes the global supergroup possesses the artistic depth worthy of even a Nobel Prize in Literature. This comes as BTS remains busy with the ongoing ARIRANG World Tour. The OT7 wrapped up their 3-concert Mexico leg and will next move to Stanford, California. BTS returned to active music after the septet completed their mandatory military service in 2025, and has been on a record-smashing spree ever since they dropped their comeback album in March this year.

Comparing BTS with legendary Bob Dylan

During a recent interview with Korea Times, Yim Hun-Young reflected on the relationship between beauty, resistance, and art, while discussing how literature can shape society and preserve historical memory. Yim unexpectedly turned his attention to BTS, comparing the group to legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, who became the first musician to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016.

Spring Day's literary expression

The 85-year-old literary critic opined that the songwriting of BTS goes far beyond pop music and enters the territory of poetry and literary expression. He specifically highlighted the group's beloved track Spring Day, a song that has long resonated deeply with ARMYs around the world because of its themes of longing, grief, healing, and reunion."Just as Bob Dylan, who sang of peace, became the first popular musician to win the Nobel Prize in literature in 2016, BTS also fully has the qualifications to win a Nobel Prize," Yim said.

Yim Hun-Young mentions song's poetic lyrics

Quoting a line from the song, Yim said he was astonished by the emotional beauty of its lyrics. He praised the imagery and poetic sensibility within the track, describing it as a work that transcends ordinary songwriting. "How much yearning must fall like snow before that spring day comes?" he said. "The lyrics are so poetic that I marvelled after hearing the song. There has been no one in human literary history who wrote such a poem," the veteran critic explained about the track's emotional yearning, which, according to him, reflects a universal literary language that speaks across generations and cultures.

About Spring Day and its themes

Spring Day is part of the band's album You Never Walk Alone. It released in 2017 and soon became one of the most celebrated songs of BTS. The track has often been described as an anthem of comfort and remembrance, with lyrics that explore missing someone deeply. Over the years, the song has taken on emotional significance for listeners navigating loss, separation, and hope during difficult periods of life.