'I read the book in the military': BTS's V, RM and more celebs congratulate Nobel winner Han Kang

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'I read the book in the military': BTS's V, RM and more celebs congratulate Nobel winner Han Kang

Published: 11 Oct. 2024, 10:09 Updated: 11 Oct. 2024, 14:14

From left: BTS member V, actors Moon Ga-young and Ryu Joon-yeol [YONHAP]

Celebrities, including BTS members V and RM, congratulated Korean author Han Kang on her Nobel Prize in Literature win on Thursday.

"I read 'The Vegetarian' (2007) while serving in the military. Congratulations," wrote BTS member V on his Instagram account on Friday along with an article about Han's historical Nobel Prize win.

Bandmate RM also shared the same article, adding a crying emoji and a heart emoticon.

Actors Ryu Jun-yeol, Moon Ga-young, Ok Ja-yeon, Kim Min-ha and singer HYNN also shared the news of the award on their social media accounts and shared their joy.

"I was truly delighted to hear the news of the author's Nobel Prize in Literature today,” said HYNN in her social media post. “I want to offer my heartfelt congratulations. I'm proud that a Korean work, with the author's unique perspective and insights, has moved people around the world."

Singer HYNN [NEW ORDER ENTERTAINMENT]

Nobel Prize winning novelist Han Kang [NEWS1]

The singer's stage name "HYNN," which means "white" in Korean, was inspired by a passage from Han's work "The White Book" (2016) that reads, "What is white, though may yet be sullied. Only white things will I give," the singer said on a radio program in 2019.

"As a small singer influenced by the author's works, I will always learn from her pure perspective and sincerity toward her works and create music,” HYNN said.

Netizens also took to the internet to congratulate the first Korean Nobel literature winner. The open chatroom "Naver Talk" on Naver, which anyone can begin and join, had over 380,000 users as of 10 a.m. Friday.

Some of the messages on the chat read, "I thought the Nobel Prize was a far-off story, but I am so proud," "You have made a historic achievement" and "I'm going to buy her book and read it."

When Han was awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday, the Swedish Academy notably applauded her complex explorations of humanity. Chairman of the Nobel Committee Anders Olsson described the author as having "a unique awareness of the connections between body and soul, the living and the dead."

Her flagship work, "The Vegetarian," was published in 2007 and won the International Booker Prize with the English translation by Deborah Smith in 2016.

This is the second time a Korean has won a Nobel Prize, following former President Kim Dae-jung (1924-2009) who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000.

BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [yoon.seungjin@joongang.co.kr]