The song that made Nobel Prize-winning author Han Kang cry

The song had already been a massive hit long before, so calling it a beneficiary of author Han Kang might be a bit of a stretch. However, due to its deeply moving lyrics, which brought even the Nobel Prize-winning author to tears, it's now experiencing a resurgence on the charts, with people rediscovering it.

The song in question is ‘How can I love the heartbreak, you’re the one I love’ by AKMU (Akdong Musician), one of K-pop's top duos.

The sibling duo AKMU released this song in 2019, and it's now enjoying a significant resurgence, thanks to what could be called the "Han Kang effect."

A prime example of this resurgence is the "Melon Chart", one of Korea’s leading music platforms. The song unexpectedly entered the top 30 of the "Melon Top 100" on the night of October 10th, the same day Han Kang won the Nobel Prize in Literature. It continued climbing and reached 22nd place on October 13th.

AKMU's impressive chart comeback seems to have been sparked by Han Kang, who praised the song by reading its lyrics aloud and showering it with compliments. This marked it as the "Han Kang pick song."

Han Kang previously appeared on the official YouTube channel of her publisher, Munhakdongne, in 2021 to promote her novel ‘I Do Not Bid Farewell’. She mentioned that she had listened to AKMU’s song while writing and called it "a song that moved me to tears," which drew a lot of attention.

Han Kang explained, "After finishing the first draft, I got into a taxi, and this song came on. I knew it well, and it was a famous song, but the last verse hit me with a completely different meaning, and before I knew it, tears were flowing."

‘How can I love the heartbreak, you’re the one I love’ was the title track of AKMU's third studio album, ‘Sailing’, released in September 2019.