Music critic Kim Young Dae (48) has passed away on Christmas Eve. The cause of his death has not been disclosed.

On December 25 KST, Kim Young Dae’s family wrote via the critic’s SNS, “We humbly bring the news that Kim Young Dae has passed away. We are sorry that he could not greet you in person.”

Kim Young Dae, who earned his PhD in ethnomusicology at University of Washington, is known as one of South Korea’s representative K-Pop analysts and critics. He is a global expert on BTS and the author of the critical reader BTS: The Review. He has contributed to conversations about the K-Pop industry in Vulture, MTV, and more.