13-year-old who appeared in J-Hope's 'Neuron' MV opens up about being called an attention-seeker
Lee Geon, 13, went on KBS Joy's '무엇이든 물어보살' on Oct. 5 to defend himself against accusations of attention-seeking — a charge that follows him from skateboarding trials to a J-Hope music video cameo.
HYBE slid into a 13-year-old's DMs
Lee Geon (이건) is 13. His résumé already puts most adults to shame. On October 5, 2026, he appeared on KBS Joy's 무엇이든 물어보살 to address something he hears constantly.
"I hear people call me 'attention-seeker' too much," he said. "It bothers me when they say I'm showing off."
The evidence against him is substantial. He placed 5th in the national skateboard team selection trials at 12. He started rapping after watching Show Me the Money. He recorded and composed his own music, released an album, and launched a fashion brand that's currently selling products.
Then HYBE sent him a DM after spotting his dance videos. The result: a child dancer role in BTS J-Hope's solo track 뉴런 (Neuron). The video has 20 million views.
Two days of dawn-to-night filming
"We filmed continuously for two days from dawn to night, which was very tiring," Lee Geon said of the shoot. The payoff came in the small moments. Riding between locations in a van while staff trailed behind him made bystanders wonder if he was famous. "That kind of attention felt really good."
School followed the same trajectory. Class president throughout elementary school. Student body president in 6th grade. Currently serving as student council president—though rival candidates filed a formal protest letter after the election, claiming it was a popularity vote and alleging an unfair process. Lee Geon told school officials he had "competed fairly and squarely" and kept the position.
His father spotted a different problem. When friends tried skateboarding for the first time, Lee Geon only showed them advanced tricks. "If you do that, only you feel good—other friends might feel bad," his dad told him.
Panel member Seo Jang-hoon (서장훈) was harsher: "People with excellent skills don't need to show it off. What's really cool is when I stay still." He predicted Lee Geon would "become something no matter what" later in life.
Whether the people calling him 관종 will ever admit they were wrong is another story entirely.
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