Kim Young Dae, a renowned South Korean music critic and author, sadly passed away on December 24, ie Christmas even. He was 48 years old. The circumstances around popular K-pop expert’s death still remain unclear. In addition to K-media outlets spreading the word, the heartbreaking news was ultimately also shared via Kim’s social media (@toojazzy25 on Instagram) on December 25.
His last known and documented video broadcast was an episode of his web series ‘School of Music’ he shot with NCT’s Haechan following the K-pop singer’s solo debut with his full-length album “Taste.” The video was released on YouTube on December 19, 2025.
According to K-media outlet Chosun, his funeral has been set up at Room 6 of the Seoul Chung-Ang University Hospital’s funeral hall. The procession is set to take place at 11 am KST on December 27, with Seoul Memorial Park as the burial site.
Top K-pop critic Kim Young Dae was active on SNS the day before his death
Given the mysterious and untimely tragedy, Kim Young Dae’s SNS profile has garnered attention. As per his Instagram profiel, the music critic was actively communication via his social media profile even just a day before the news of his passing shook the industry. In Kim’s final IG post, he was seen discussing about his own recently published book “The Songwriters,” which featured famous names like actress-singer IU, while exploring the history and evolution of Koran ballads.
He has even participated in the recording of CBS Radio’s Kim Hyun Jung’s News Show segment recently, among other reported activities.
Who was Kim Young Dae? Why was he so famous?
Kim was widely celebrated for recognising the beloved K-pop boy group BTS’ rising boom right quite early on. He seems to have caught note and decoded that the band was going to be the next big thing right when the septet, including RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, had first gained attention in the US mainstream market.
Born in 1977 in South Korea, he completed his graduation at Yonsei University’s School of Business. The late critic eventually went ahead to secure a PhD in ethnomusicology from the University of Washington in the US. His journey as a music critic kicked off in the mid-1990s, under the alias ‘toojazzy,’ which ultimately served as his IG username as well. His written word travelled through online magazines at first.
According to one of his author descriptions on Amazon, he also served as a member of Selection Committee for Korean Music Awards. In 2007, he the South Korean critic moved to Seattle, where he started mapping out detailed observations of American pop music trends and the K-pop wave for over a decade.
Over the years, Kim has also contributed critical columns across big-shot media outlet like New York Magazine’s Vulture and MTV. More prominently, he’s behind the ‘School of Music’ YouTube series, a platform he’s used to host chat sessions with K-pop stars like NCT’s Haechan, GOT7’s Youngjae and other industry officials and insiders.
Kim Young Dae books: His written pieces about K-pop stars like BTS, IU
At least two of the most renowned books the seasoned critic had penned in the past years, included “BTS: The Review” and “The Songwriters.” The former piece of writing was widely celebrated by the BTS fandom, with some fans even quoting extracts online after they heard of Kim’s passing.
“I sincerely thank him for all his work and dedication, and I pray that he may rest in peace. In remembrance, I would like to share a passage from his book Reviewing BTS, published in March 2019, that left a lasting impression on me,” wrote a fan of BTS member Jungkook on X.
Rest in peace my friend~🕊️ Young Dae was one of the best music critic/historian in the business. This news is a huge loss to the music community. He will be missed dearly. #김영대 pic.twitter.com/yAHHf6bspn
— Jae Chong 정재윤 (@iamjaechong) December 25, 2025
The quote was as follows: “The BTS phenomenon was not created by BTS alone. It is a movement shaped together by BTS and ARMY. The synergy born from the universality of their music and the close, genuine relationship with their fans, this is the solid core of the BTS phenomenon that I sought to emphasize throughout this book, and one that, until now, no one had fully articulated.”
Moreover, Kim penned a Korean article detailing Jungkook’s “successful debut as a solo pop singer with the success of his first solo single,” and how it would impact the K-pop industry as a whole.
In a separate interview, Kim also spoke out in favour of former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin, calling her “the most important creative force in the entire K-pop industry.” In the same reported interaction, he added before Min’s appearance, K-pop was “becoming a victim of its own success, repeating old formulas in an effort to retain the existing fandom.”
He also name-dropped NewJeans in the discussion, noting that through the girl group, Min Hee Jin introduced a new trend of “easy listening and retro-style aesthetics,” declaring it the “most important development in the industry” in the past few years.