Kim Hee-jin relaunches 'Acacia,' debuts in Japan on Oricon, and books Seoul and Tokyo concerts
Folk singer Kim Hee-jin signed with Stealth Entertainment, debuted in Japan via Tokuma, and is reviving her 2023 track 'Acacia' with concerts in Seoul and Tokyo.
A 2023 song gets a second life
Folk singer Kim Hee-jin is pushing 아카시아 back into the spotlight. Her new agency, Stealth Entertainment, calls it a reboot project—a second chance for a finished song that never quite landed the first time around. 아카시아 (사랑이 오려나), written and composed by Kim Shin-woo, dropped in September 2023. The ballad-style folk rock captures that slow bloom of first-love excitement, the wistful ache just before love begins.
Ahead of the campaign, Kim Hee-jin has been training with a vocal coach who previously worked at SM Entertainment. TV, radio, and SNS will carry the push. Then there's the unconventional part: managers are visiting Korea's top 100 mountains to play the song directly for hikers on the trails.
Seoul sellout, now a November return
Her last Seoul concert at Ewha Womans University Samsung Hall in November 2025 sold out. The next one—2026 가을 김희진 포크 콘서트—lands November 15 at 5 PM at 구름아래소극장 in Mapo-gu, Seoul. She'll perform 아카시아 live, and a special guest is locked in (name still under wraps).
The agency's take: "Kim Hee-jin's music competitiveness lies in the authenticity conveyed by her voice and melody rather than flashy performance."
Japan debut and a December Tokyo date
On October 7, Kim Hee-jin debuted in Japan's major record market under the name HeeJin through Tokuma Japan Communications. The release charted high on Oricon right away.
The Japan single has two tracks. 恋のバラ (Koi no Bara / Love's Rose) is a Japanese-language version of 아카시아, with lyrics by Kawa Hideo. 風にふりむけば (Kaze ni Furimueba / Looking Back at the Wind) reworks her own composition 흰구름 into a new arrangement that evokes nostalgia for hometown and youth; Kawai Mira wrote the lyrics, Inomata Yoshichika handled the arrangement.
Her first solo concert in Japan is December 3 at K-Stage O! in Tokyo.
Kim Hee-jin debuted in 2000 as the last female member of co-ed folk group 라나 에 로스포 and went solo in 2003. She holds JLPT N1 certification twice over—not nothing for a Korean folk artist now breaking into the Japanese market.
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