Actress Ha Ji-Won to Perform Viral Song Home Run on Music Core After 23 Years Away From the Stage

Award-winning actress Ha Ji-won is officially preparing to make a shocking return to the live music stage for the first time in over two decades. According to an official announcement from her management agency, Haewadal Entertainment, the legendary actress will appear on the live broadcast of the MBC weekly music program Show! Music Core on May 30, 2026. During this highly anticipated television event, she will perform a special stage to recreate her iconic 2003 dance track, “Home Run.”

The 1.2 Million View Promise Explained

This surprise return to television music promotions is the direct result of a viral promise she made to her online viewers. Ha Ji-won is currently starring in the hit JTBC digital studio web entertainment series titled Class of ’26 Ji-won Is Here (26학번 지원이요), where she acts as a freshman university student interacting with Gen Z campus culture.

During an episode that aired on April 30, Ha Ji-won invited public figures Kian84 and Kangnam to visit her campus university cheering squad club. During the episode, Kian84 and Kangnam playfully teased the actress, telling her that she absolutely needed to perform her retro track “Home Run” once again. Ha Ji-won confidently laughed off the challenge and set a high condition, stating that she would perform on a real music program if the video managed to surpass 1.2 million views. To her surprise, the web episode achieved massive viral traffic online and quickly passed the 1.2 million mark, forcing the actress to honor her promise.

The Sudden Rise of a 2003 Classic Track

The sudden public obsession with Ha Ji-won’s short-lived music career initially began back in March, when she appeared as a guest on Kangnam’s personal YouTube channel. During that show, Kangnam revealed that his wife, Olympic speed skating legend Sang-hwa, sings “Home Run” every single time they visit a karaoke room.

The conversation brought back old memories of Ha Ji-won’s performance on SBS Inkigayo in 2003, which was originally recorded as a quick marketing promotion for one of her feature films. At the time, she joked about her past performance, saying, “I honestly wish that absolutely nobody would watch that video anymore.” However, her hilarious and embarrassed reaction had the exact opposite effect. The original footage and related short-form clips quickly accumulated over 3 million views, starting a massive trend across TikTok and YouTube.

Aside from her viral music activities, Ha Ji-won has been enjoying a highly successful year as an actress, recently making a triumphant return to television screens in the ENA drama Climax. New episodes of her popular reality web series, Class of ’26 Ji-won Is Here, continue to release every Thursday at 6:00 PM KST.