Son Tae-jin Revives a 1981 Classic for K-Drama OST

Trot singer Son Tae-jin is bringing his warm, resonant voice to one of Korea's most beloved folk songs — and this time, it's for a K-drama OST that fans are already calling the perfect match. His rendition of "A Person Who Gives Happiness" (Haengbok-eul Juneun Saram), recorded for KBS 2TV's ongoing drama Sim Umyeon Yeonriri, drops on April 30 at noon KST across major streaming platforms.

The track is more than just a cover. It's a carefully considered reimagining of a song that has moved generations of Koreans — and in Son Tae-jin's hands, it may be about to do so again.

A Song With Forty Years of History

"A Person Who Gives Happiness" was first introduced to Korean audiences in 1981, when singer-songwriter Lee Joo-ho included it on his solo debut album. The folk ballad, with its warm lyrics and gently unfolding melody, found modest early recognition. Then, two years later, the trot-folk group Haebaraggi released their own version in 1983 — and that's when the song became part of Korea's collective memory.

Haebaraggi's rendition turned the song into a nationwide favorite, a track that seemed to play at every celebration and quiet evening alike. Over the decades, it remained a touchstone of Korean popular music: familiar, comforting, and achingly human. It's the kind of song that doesn't need an introduction, because almost everyone already knows it.

For Son Tae-jin, tackling this legacy was both an opportunity and a responsibility. The challenge wasn't simply to sing the song well — it was to sing it in a way that felt honest, and that could carry the emotional weight the drama required.

Son Tae-jin's Interpretation: Country Warmth Meets Deep Vocal

The production team approached the arrangement with intention. Composer Han Bam and arranger Chanran — two figures well known in Korean music circles for their work with artists including Lim Young-woong, Kim Na-young, CHEEZE, Lee Haeri, Song Ha-young, and Acoustic Collabo — took on the task of bridging the song's folk origins with a sound that would suit a contemporary drama.

Their solution was elegant: a bright country-folk arrangement that lifts the mood without abandoning the original's warmth. The result retains the poetic tenderness of the 1981 version while introducing a lighter, more optimistic color — a shift that aligns naturally with the drama's rural setting and its gentle, hopeful tone.

Son Tae-jin's voice does the rest. Known for his restrained, deep vocal quality, he brings a kind of quiet sincerity to the recording that keeps the sentimentality from tipping into excess. His delivery feels lived-in rather than performed — the kind of singing that feels less like a cover and more like a personal memory being shared.

According to the production team, his voice is expected to move naturally alongside the drama's emotional rhythms, wrapping around the characters' relationships in a way that deepens viewer immersion without calling attention to itself.

Son Tae-jin: A Singer Hitting His Stride

Son Tae-jin has been one of the more consistent presences in Korea's trot music scene over the past few years, and 2026 has been a particularly strong period. His album Promise of Spring (Bom-ui Yaksok), released earlier this year, landed with immediate impact — the title track and all its accompanying songs climbed the adult contemporary charts at major streaming platforms, achieving what Korean music fans call a "chart lineup" sweep.

The album's reach extended beyond traditional trot audiences. Tracks from Promise of Spring appeared on YouTube's trending music charts, drawing listeners across age groups who might not have encountered his work before. It was the kind of crossover moment that suggested Son Tae-jin's appeal had outgrown a single genre.

The OST for Sim Umyeon Yeonriri arrives in that momentum's wake, making this his first major soundtrack contribution following that commercial breakthrough. For a song already beloved across generations, having Son Tae-jin's voice attached to it carries a specific kind of weight.

About the Drama: Healing in the Countryside

Sim Umyeon Yeonriri premiered on KBS 2TV and airs every Thursday at 9:50 p.m. KST. The drama centers on the Seong Tae-hun family — a thoroughly urban household that finds itself unexpectedly transplanted to the remote countryside village of Yeonriri. What follows is a comedic, occasionally chaotic, and ultimately heartfelt story of a family trying to find their way back to Seoul while discovering what they actually needed along the way.

Critics and viewers have been quick to invoke the Japanese film Little Forest as a reference point, describing the drama as a "Korean drama version of Little Forest" — high praise for a work built on quiet rhythms, small joys, and the kind of storytelling that trusts its audience to find meaning in ordinary moments. Director Choi Yeon-su has spoken about the show's core philosophy in interviews, suggesting that real life is often more spectacular than any scripted drama, and that Sim Umyeon Yeonriri aims to honor that idea.

The cast is led by Park Sung-woong and Lee Su-kyung, two performers known for their ability to bring warmth and texture to ensemble storytelling. Their chemistry has been a consistent point of praise in early viewer responses, even as the drama has faced a competitive broadcast landscape. The premiere drew a 2.9% national rating — respectable for a cable-era drama competing in a crowded Thursday slot — before settling into the 1.5–2% range as the season progressed.

These numbers, while modest by traditional broadcast standards, don't fully capture the drama's following. Viewers who have found it tend to be loyal and vocal, the kind of audience that talks about a show not because it's buzzing loudly on social media, but because it keeps delivering something they didn't know they were looking for.

Why the Match Works

The decision to pair Son Tae-jin's voice with "A Person Who Gives Happiness" for this particular drama feels less like a calculated move and more like a natural alignment. The song's core message — about the quiet dignity of someone who simply makes others happy, without fanfare or expectation — maps cleanly onto Sim Umyeon Yeonriri's own emotional project.

The drama isn't asking its audience to witness grand gestures or dramatic reversals. It's asking them to sit with a family adjusting to a slower pace of life, finding grace in inconvenience, and discovering that belonging can look different from what you originally planned. A song about giving happiness — understated, folk-rooted, passed down across four decades — is exactly the kind of musical statement that drama earns.

Son Tae-jin's version, with Han Bam and Chanran's country-tinged arrangement, adds one more layer: a brightness that keeps the song from feeling nostalgic in a backward-looking way. It's warm without being mournful, familiar without being stale. For a drama that's fundamentally optimistic even when things go sideways for its characters, that tonal choice matters.

Release and What's Next

"A Person Who Gives Happiness" by Son Tae-jin becomes available on April 30 at 12:00 p.m. KST on all major music streaming platforms, including Melon, Genie, Bugs, and Spotify. It joins the Sim Umyeon Yeonriri OST lineup as one of the drama's signature tracks.

Sim Umyeon Yeonriri continues to air every Thursday on KBS 2TV. Whether Son Tae-jin's contribution gives the drama a new wave of listeners — the kind who discover a show through its soundtrack rather than the other way around — remains to be seen. But the combination of a song this durable, a voice this particular, and a drama this sincere suggests the odds are good.

For listeners who grew up with Haebaraggi's version, hearing it redone by a singer at the height of his powers, inside a story that takes its time and means it, may turn out to be something worth stopping for.