Minhye J Leaves Home on My Dear Ocean, a Soft Rock Single Titled Butterfly and Sea in Korean
A South Korean Singer-Songwriter Joins the Independent Wave Singing in Korean for Listeners Everywhere
Some records start with a decision forced by circumstance. My Dear Ocean is about one of them: stepping out into a harsh world alone, after long-term depression and after leaving the safety of a parent’s care. Minhye J released My Dear Ocean on 18 November 2025. Based in Seoul, South Korea, she made it a soft rock song, with an acoustic guitar carrying it from the first bar to the last.
Minhye J’s My Dear Ocean is in the playlist below, among the noise pop, lo-fi and slacker rock this desk keeps in rotation. Every article about her sits on the Minhye J artist profile. The single reached BestRock.News through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news desks. Press play, then read on for the wave it belongs to.
Korean Indie Songwriters Have Learned to Reach the World Without Changing Their Language
So start with the wave itself. Korean indie music has grown up alongside K-pop rather than inside it, on small labels and self-releases, and much of it is sung only in Korean. Streaming has made that less of a barrier than it once was. A listener anywhere can now find a new song from South Korea on the day it comes out.
Lang Lee shows how far a Korean independent songwriter can travel on her own terms. Her folk records sit well outside the mainstream. At the 2017 Korean Music Awards she won Best Folk Song, and she auctioned the trophy on stage during her acceptance speech. The moment caused controversy, but it made people listen. In 2022 her third album, There is a Wolf, won Album of the Year at the same awards. Minhye J works in a softer register, yet she comes from the same independent tradition.
Where Minhye J Fits, From Her 2020 Debut Blue to My Dear Ocean
Within that tradition, Minhye J debuted in 2020 with Blue, and her music has roots in R&B with touches of alternative pop and rock. Her catalogue since then reads like a writer trying rooms. There are R&B singles, a folk-pop collection called paperflower in 2024, and even an electronic track. My Dear Ocean sits on the rock side of that list.
She wrote the words and the music herself, Yeonsoo arranged it, and a session guitarist played the acoustic part. The track was mixed and mastered at small’s studio. The video is animated rather than filmed, and the release also carries an instrumental version of the song.
Its Korean title, 나비와 바다, translates as Butterfly and Sea. That links it to her previous single, Like a butterfly, released that July. The sea also runs through her Instagram, where her profile line reads I will be your ocean, with every letter struck through.
Hyukoh Show What Happens When a Korean Songwriter Leaves Home to Follow the Music
Still, the clearest companion for My Dear Ocean is a band whose story begins with leaving home. Hyukoh grew out of Oh Hyuk’s decision, in 2012, to move to South Korea on his own and pursue music, despite his parents’ strong opposition. He had spent his first twenty years in northern China.
The band released its debut EP, 20, in 2014, named after the members’ age at the time. Its first full album, 23, followed in April 2017, and the lead single, Tomboy, topped several Korean digital charts. Hyukoh then went on their first world tour.
That story and My Dear Ocean by Minhye J share a subject. Both start with someone stepping away from the safety of family to face the world alone. Hyukoh turned that step into a career, and My Dear Ocean turns it into a four-minute song.
Start With My Dear Ocean by Minhye J, Then Go Back to Her Debut, Blue
So start with My Dear Ocean and its animated video, then go back to Blue to hear where she began. Listen for how little the song needs around her. For a song about leaving home, it travels light.
BestRock.News’s curator team: “Minhye J keeps My Dear Ocean small and lets one decision carry it, and the restraint is what makes it land. It is a quiet record about a brave step.”
Stream My Dear Ocean on Spotify or Apple Music. Then follow Minhye J on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, YouTube, Instagram and Linktree.
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