IBK's only founding member → Kim Hee-jin, who is 'starting anew' by joining Hyundai Engineering & Construction, will he be able to recover his honor by recreating his prime skills
IBK's only founding member → Kim Hee-jin, who is 'starting anew' by joining Hyundai Engineering & Construction, will he be able to recover his honor by recreating his prime skills
Blog Article
Franchise star. Although there is no clear definition, it refers to a player who is recognized as a symbol of the team by fans for sharing the club's history in professional sports. It would be perfect if the symbolism of a "one-club player" who plays for a team from debut to retirement was added. To put it another way, a franchise star does not have to be a one-club player.안전놀이터
Kim Hee-jin (34) is definitely a franchise star representing IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, which is the sixth female club in the V-League and was founded in 2010. IBK was given preferential treatment to select potential graduates from three high schools. It nominated 10 players from Chung-Ang Girls' High School in Seoul, Namseong Girls' High School in Busan, and Myeongseong Girls' High School in Jinju. This meant that Kim Hee-jin from Chung-Ang Girls' High School in Seoul and Park Jeong-ah from Men's Girls' High School in Busan, who are competing for the top two spots, will play for the same team.
Under the training of "master" coach Lee Jung-chul, Kim Hee-jin, who can play middle blockers and apogit spikers with his good height of 1m85, agility and jumping skills, and Park Jung-ah, who has high offensive RBIs and clutch resolution ability as a tall outside heater of 1m87, won the combined championship that devoured both the top spot in the regular league and the championship game in the 2012-2013 season, the second year of participation in the V-League. Since then, Kim Hee-jin and Park Jung-ah have won three championships and finished second in two championships before becoming the first FA qualification from the 2014-2015 and 2016-2017 seasons.
At the end of the 2016-2017 season, IBK Industrial Bank chose to leave Kim Hee-jin, and Park Jung-ah transferred to Korea Expressway Corporation as an FA. Park Jung-ah moved to Pepper Savings Bank, leading two championships during her six years at Korea Expressway Corporation. On the other hand, Kim Hee-jin played for IBK Industrial Bank from 2024 to 2025 and did not lift any more championship trophies, but he still remained the only founding member and franchise star of IBK.
However, IBK Industrial Bank no longer has a founding member. This is because Kim Hee-jin will move to Hyundai Engineering & Construction in a surprise move. The news of Kim Hee-jin's transfer was reported on the 24th and will be officially announced on the 26th.
In the process of envisioning the next season, Hyundai E&C decided to release Apogit Spiker Hwang Yeon-ju, who has played for Hyundai E&C since 2010 and has been a symbol of the team along with Yang Hyo-jin. Some say that Hyundai E&C may use Kim Hee-jin as a middle blocker and a backup Apogit Spiker, but Hyundai E&C plans to use Kim Hee-jin as the main middle blocker for now. Lee Da-hyun, who firmly protected the middle of the court with Yang Hyo-jin, moved from the FA market to Heungkuk Life Insurance, and Hyundai E&C recruited Kim Hee-jin to reinforce the middle blocker.
Kim Hee-jin was one of the league's top high-paying players who received a total of 600 million won (450 million won per year, 150 million won in options) in the 2022-2023 season alone. Although he was qualified as an FA ahead of the 2023-2024 season, his salary level fell to 350 million won (150 million won per year, 200 million won in options), nearly half due to injuries and surgical rehabilitation. As he failed to perform properly due to injuries, the total salary for the 2024-2025 season fell further to 120 million won (100 million won per year, 20 million won in options).
It is known that Kim Hee-jin will receive less than 100 million won in annual salary for Hyundai Engineering & Construction next season. Compared to his heyday, his annual salary has dropped to 1/10th of that. For Hyundai Engineering & Construction, if Kim Hee-jin recovers his skills comparable to his heyday, it is truly a cost-effective contract.
The key now is whether Kim Hee-jin will be able to regain his skills during his heyday. His biggest strength was his explosive athletic ability during his heyday. With the highest level of jumping ability and agility among Korean players, he was able to perform fast attacks and mobile attacks in the avant-garde and back attacks in the rear.
However, his performance has significantly decreased since he underwent knee surgery in February 2023. His record clearly shows that he scored only 19 points in 14 games during the 2023-2024 season. In the 2024-2025 season, which was quite a while after the knee surgery, he failed to play as the main middle blocker due to Choi Jeong-min, who grew up as the team's main middle blocker, and Lee Ju-ah, who joined the FA, and was not good enough to play as a backup apogit. He also played in 30 games during the 2024-2025 season, but played in only 53 sets. He also scored 32 points per game, which was only about one point per game.
Over the past two seasons, Kim Hee-jin seemed to block the explosive exercise of his athletic ability, which was also a strength of his weight that was clearly swollen compared to his heyday. There was a public evaluation that he would no longer be able to play as a top player, but Hyundai Engineering & Construction seems to have decided to believe in Kim Hee-jin's chances of recovering his skills. "Kim Hee-jin is definitely making weight loss," a Hyundai Engineering & Construction official said. "He has been exercising steadily through external facilities."
Will Kim Hee-jin be able to recreate his heyday? It would be even better if he reproduces 100 percent of the time, but just 60 to 70 percent of the time will be a great help to Hyundai Engineering and Construction. Attention is focusing on whether Kim Hee-jin will be able to recover his fame at Hyundai Engineering and Construction, which has built a new nest after leaving IBK Industrial Bank, where he played for 14 years.