Composer Kang Seung-won, the man behind Kim Kwang-seok’s timeless hit “Around Thirty,” revealed on October 14 that the late singer’s death left him unable to work for seven to eight years.
According to Xports News’ coverage of the tvN variety show You Quiz on the Block, Kang appeared on the broadcast that day and shared the story behind the song. Dubbed Korea’s “No. 1 music director,” Kang has served as music director for KBS music programs for 36 years.
Kang recalled writing “Around Thirty” at about thirty: on a lazy afternoon, leaning against a wall and strumming his guitar, the opening line came to him almost instantly. He first sang it on the final broadcast of Noh Young-shim’s Small Concert, where Kim Kwang-seok was in the audience. Kim asked, “Hyung, can I take this song?” So Kang gave it to him.
“I learned of his death through the news,” Kang said on the show. “I thought, ‘What?’ — but it was real. After he died, I couldn’t do anything for seven to eight years. I still think of him out of nowhere. Everyone misses him. He died far too young.” He remembered Kim as a bright junior whose words always matched his thoughts — someone whose presence lifted the room.
Beyond “Around Thirty,” Kang wrote the iconic Choco Pie commercial jingle, Sung Si-kyung’s “Solar System,” and Zion.T’s “Zero Gravity,” composing both lyrics and music.
No official statement was available beyond the broadcast. The show aired October 14 on tvN.
