“Home Alone” (나 혼자 산다)

By Jae-Ha Kim
Substack (.pdf)
May 28, 2025

☆☆☆ (out of ☆☆☆☆)

This morning, j-hope announced that he would be releasing a new solo single and music video on June 13: “Killin’ It Girl (feat. GloRilla).” In the seven months since he finished his mandatory military duty, which is required of all able-bodied South Korean men, the BTS rapper has tackled a full schedule that includes writing “Sweet Dreams,” which he debuted at his Seoul shows, and then added another new song (“Mona Lisa”) in Brooklyn. His solo tour will take him to the 55,000-seat Kyocera Dome in Osaka on May 31 and June 1.

And in between all that, j-hope filmed the Korean reality-variety series “Home Alone,” which in Korea airs as “나 혼자 산다” (or “I Live Alone”). If you’re wondering why one of the world’s most famous men would agree to show off where he lives, it’s because he had a workaround where he could share a bit of his private life with fans, while still maintaining security. Instead of showing off his Seoul home, he let the program film him in Los Angeles, where he had rented a house to work on new music.

While it was fun watching him go through In-N-Out’s drive through to order food by himself — in English! — the part I enjoyed the most was when he met up with his older sister, Jung Ji-woo, who was also in L.A. for her business.

j-hope may be a multi-millionaire, but when he’s with his sister, he is first and foremost her baby brother. She takes charge and he’s happy for it! Fluent in English, Ji-woo orders their meal, while he watches in awe. Asked if he’s been practicing his foreign language skills, he grows bashful. She doesn’t lecture him. Rather, she offers pragmatic advice that are sound. Even more importantly, she notes that they are both so busy that they don’t see their parents as often as they should. Ji-woo encourages him to call their parents more often just because.

And when it was time to pay, his sister took care of it, as is customary in Korea for older siblings.

His appearance on “Home Alone” gave insight into his role as a worldwide pop star. But it was these fly-on-the-wall moments with his sister that were the most precious to me. They gave viewers insight into who he is — a man whose fame is less important than his family.

Airdates: “Home Alone” is an ongoing MBC Korean show that aired its first episode on March 22, 2013. j-hope appears on episodes 585 (original airdate Feb. 28, 2025) and 586 (aired on March 7, 2025). (I watched this on Kocowa. It’s also on Viki.)

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