"HYBE APOLOGIZE TO NAMJOON" trends on X as Weverse magazine allegedly fails to credit the BTS leader on their 'Revisiting Spring Day' article

On February 8, 2024, "HYBE APOLOGISE TO NAMJOON" trended on X worldwide due to the company's recently released article on BTS' song Spring Day. On February 7, Weverse magazine of HYBE published an article on the group's 2017 track and its reverence that will echo through decades. However, fans observed how the magazine failed to credit BTS leader Kim Namjoon, one of the track's co-writers, properly.

As the news garnered negative attention from fans online, one fan wrote:

"Not a shock the fandom lining up to praise when Namjoon is deleted from his own work. He was the main songwriter and not even a mention?"

BTS recorded the song Spring Day for their 2017 album You Never Walk Alone, a reissue of their second studio album, Wings (2016), in Korean. HYBE founder and chairman Bang Si-hyuk aka Hitman Bang, co-wrote the track with Namjoon aka RM, and Suga of BTS. Other co-writers of the song are Adora, Arlissa Ruppert, Peter Ibsen, and Pdogg, the song's producer.

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"What a shame!": Fans enraged on Weverse magazine's alleged removal of BTS Namjoon from the song's credits

The Weverse article Revisiting Spring Day talks about the poignant story and resonance of the 2017 track, which topped the US iTunes Chart for the first time on December 13, 2023. The writer draws emphasis on the song being a vessel through which the group is trying to communicate their feelings to the listeners and console them.

The article also highlights how the song speaks vehemently about those who "disappeared along the way" and those who were left behind to reminisce about the loss. The author of the article, Myeongseok Kang, mentioned how people keep going until the end of winter, when the tree may begin to sprout leaves and flowers can begin to bloom.

He hails the song Spring Day as an ode to those who have come to terms with the fact that they will always be moving ahead while holding the sorrow of their past within their hearts and encapsulates the spirit of the life Koreans lead.

"Spring Day is a prayer for everyone who disappeared along the way, and the purest form of consolation for all those who survived. Even those who are here now are constantly reminded of their loss. But we must push forward to the end of winter, to a place where the tree can start growing leaves and flowers blossom. 'Spring Day' is a song for people who have accepted their fate of constantly marching into the future, cradling the sadness of their past in their hearts," he wrote.

The article mentions Namjoon's dream to write a track that will reverberate through time, as stated in the biography BEYOND THE STORY: 10-YEAR RECORD OF BTS. However, it allegedly overlooks Namjoon's contribution to writing the song.

On the other hand, Myeongseok Kang also emphasized how the song has altered the essence of spring for fans worldwide and in South Korea. Since the release of Spring Day seven years ago, the season's meaning has been reinterpreted to reflect a time when, although shrouded in the gloom of winter, people may still find hope for the coming days.

"RM’s wish of wanting to create a song that is “loved by Korean people for a long time” as mentioned in BEYOND THE STORY: 10-YEAR RECORD OF BTS has come true. For those seven years, some may have outright bawled while they listened to the song on repeat. Others may have heard it for the first time as they finally resolved to move forward, baggage still in their hearts," the article reads.

Nevertheless, fans couldn't help but notice the absence of Namjoon's penmanship in the iconic song, which has been charting on the Melon chart for over seven years. Fans called out HYBE for allegedly "disrespecting" and "discrediting" the writer of the song. One Twitter user, @realmoonjar, wrote,

"How do you write about Spring Day without even talking about Namjoon—his idea and melody, his role as main lyricist? What is this?"

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Namjoon is currently carrying out his mandatory enlistment period of 18 months in the South Korean military since December 11, 2023, along with fellow member Kim Taehyung. All seven members of BTS are actively serving in the military, although their enlisting dates are different. After enlistment on December 13, 2022, BTS' Kim Seokjin will come back to the entertainment industry in June 2024, followed by J-hope in October 2024.

Meanwhile, Namjoon, Taehyung, Jimin, Suga, and Jungkook will return from their military service in June 2025.