Kim Hyun-sik Recorded It to Say Goodbye: “In My Arms”

Part 7 of 10 in The One Album K-pop Learned From: Yoo Jae-ha

No. 4, “In My Arms,” is the Yoo Jae-ha song Kim Hyun-sik put on his own album the year after Yoo died. Kim, who wailed at Yoo’s funeral, died three years later on the same date, Nov. 1 (Dong-A Ilbo, Oct. 31, 2017).

Its combined YouTube views come to about 10.5 million. From here on, every song passes 10 million. For fans who know the story of these two men, this is never just a love song. Every time I hear it, I hope they’re somewhere singing it together.

Courting at twenty

His brother remembers Yoo writing this song when he was about 20 or 21 (Yonhap, Feb. 3, 2017). Munhwa Ilbo says the album’s songs were the story of one romance, and “In My Arms” was what he wrote while chasing her (Munhwa Ilbo, Oct. 28, 2003). It comes before “Gloomy Letter” in Part 4, from the years when she was still saying no.

그대 내 품에 안겨 눈을 감아요 / 그대 내 품에 안겨 사랑의 꿈 나눠요

Close your eyes in my arms. / Rest in my arms and share a dream of love.

— Lyrics and music by Yoo Jae-ha (1987), excerpt

On starry nights when he hears her voice, he wants to become pollen and settle on her. When he sees her smile in his glass, he wants to become sweet wine and touch her lips. And between those lines is a promise: if she ever leaves him, he will follow her to the very end.

Also read: The Lonely Night Shin Hae-chul Sang for Him: "Empty Tonight"

Kim Hyun-sik’s fourth album

In 1986, Yoo played keys in Kim Hyun-sik’s band, Kim Hyun-sik and Spring Summer Fall Winter. Kim had a fiery temper and was hard even on younger musicians, but he had a soft spot for Yoo, the Dong-A Ilbo says. When Yoo died in a car crash on Nov. 1, 1987, the one sobbing loudest at the funeral was Kim Hyun-sik (Dong-A Ilbo, 2017; Chosun Ilbo, Nov. 1, 2025).

The next year, 1988, Kim put Yoo’s “In My Arms” on his fourth album (OhmyNews, Nov. 1, 2017). While Yoo was alive, Kim had picked just one of his songs, “Hidden Road” (Part 8). After Yoo was gone, Kim sang one more. The Chosun Ilbo wrote that Kim spent nearly every day drinking after that, and on Nov. 1, 1990, he died of cirrhosis at 32 (Dong-A Ilbo, 2017). The two deaths on the same date are called the start of the Korean entertainment world’s “November curse.”

In November 2014, KBS’s Immortal Songs 2 made a “Stars Who Fell in November” episode, and Moon Myung-jin sang “In My Arms” on it.

Moon Myung-jin – “In My Arms” (Immortal Songs 2, KBS, 2014) — 910,000 views

Crush, Lena Park, and IDID’s Kim Min-jae

The most-watched video of this song is Crush’s. His “In My Arms” on JTBC’s Begin Again Korea in 2020 has 1.94 million views.

Crush – “In My Arms” (Begin Again Korea, JTBC, 2020) — 1.94 million views

Lena Park’s performance on MBC’s I Am a Singer in 2011 has 700,000 views. Kim Min-jae of the boy group IDID sang it with Lee Mu-jin on KBS’s Limousine Service.

Lena Park – “In My Arms” (I Am a Singer, MBC, 2011) — 700,000 views

IDID Kim Min-jae x Lee Mu-jin – “In My Arms” (Limousine Service, KBS) — 37,000 views

Ahn Shin-ae x Sung Si-kyung – “In My Arms” (The Seasons, KBS) — 560,000 views

On the two tribute albums, Na Won-joo (grand prize, 7th Yoo Jae-ha Music Contest) took the song in 1997, and Lee Jin-ah in 2017 (Munhwa Ilbo, Dec. 11, 2017).

The song that promised to follow her to the end if she ever left was taken up by the senior who loved him most. Three years later, he really did follow, on the same date. So every Nov. 1, I play their songs side by side.

Previous: Part 6 — He Traded It for a Bottle of Soju: “Forever With You”

Next, No. 3: “Hidden Road.” Yoo brought ten songs, and Kim Hyun-sik took only one.

---

Sources: Dong-A Ilbo (Oct. 31, 2017); Yonhap (Feb. 3, 2017); Munhwa Ilbo (Oct. 28, 2003; Dec. 11, 2017); Chosun Ilbo (Nov. 1, 2025); OhmyNews (Nov. 1, 2017). Lyrics checked against Bugs. View counts as shown on YouTube, Oct. 25, 2026.