Book spotted in photo with BTS leader RM tops sales in South Korea

SEOUL, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- K-pop sensation BTS leader RM has unwittingly sent a book -- which has been out of print for almost 20 years -- to bestseller status in South Korea.

Kyobo Book Centre, the country's largest bookstore chain, said Monday the Korean-language book titled Dying Young, topped the art category in sales last week.

In a picture posted online on Aug. 10, RM was spotted reading the book, which is about the lives and works of 12 Korean artists who died young.

Afterward, BTS fans tried to purchase Dying Young to no avail, as the book has been out of print since 2003. Fans asked its publisher, Hyohyung Publishing, to reprint the book.

"At first, we were not sure whether to print the book again. But we opted to accept the request of BTS fans," Hyohyung representative Song Hyun-geun told UPI News Korea.

"It seems that we made the right decision because the book became a bestseller not only in Kyobo, but also in all other online bookstores. It's just amazing because I have never seen a case like this before," he said.

Hyohyung also received requests from overseas BTS fans to translate the book into English, but the publisher has no plans to do so, Song said.

RM is known to be an avid reader and has previously recommended books for his fans.

The list of books RM has mentioned or was seen reading include The Stranger by Albert Camus, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and 1984 by George Orwell. In addition, the singer is known to have read novels and poems by Haruki Murakami.

BTS is a seven-member boy band with a wide global fan base. Their latest hit song, "Butter," has topped the Billboard main singles chart for nine weeks, becoming the longest-running No. 1 song this year.