Lee Know

From backup dancer to JYP

Lee Know (리노) is a member of Stray Kids, the eight-member group under JYP Entertainment. Appearing on SBS Power FM’s Cultwo Show on 12 August 2018, in the group’s fifth month since its debut, he confirmed that before the debut he had joined BTS on a tour of Japan as a backup dancer. Watching those seniors perform on big stages, he said, “I began to dream of being a singer, thinking that one day I too wanted to stand at the centre of a big venue like that, and that’s how I came to JYP” (Newsen).

His thinking on dance is in an interview with Esquire Korea in July 2025. He said he had taken up exercise in the first place in order to dance, and put the mark of a good dancer this way: “Isn’t a cool dancer someone who can dance even with their own style completely stripped away?”

The Saturday afternoon host

SPOTV News reported on 9 August 2021 that Lee Know had been chosen with NCT’s Jungwoo as a new host of MBC’s Show! Music Core, presenting it with Kim Min-ju from 14 August. The two handed the seats on after the broadcast of 4 November 2023, and in his farewell Lee Know said his two-plus years on Show! Music Core had been a time in which he learned a great deal as a host (Star News).

Songs in his own voice

His solo song on the digital album SKZ-REPLAY, released on 21 December 2022, is ‘나지막이’ (Najimagi), a word that means softly, in a low voice. SPOTV News introduced it as a song that brings out a plaintive vocal. The solo song ‘Youth’ is on 合 (HOP), released on 13 December 2024, and Newsen wrote that his individual teaser retold the youth of many different people as Lee Know’s own story.

Brands and giving

Sports Kyunghyang reported on 30 June 2025 that the Italian house Gucci had chosen Lee Know as its new global brand ambassador. WWD, writing the same day, said the brand would announce it the following day, and described Lee Know as an artist who has written lyrics and composed as well as performing on stage. In September 2026 the fashion brand Matin Kim named him its ambassador for the 2026 autumn-winter season.

The Korea Herald reported on 30 August 2026 that Lee Know had donated 100 million won through World Vision Korea two days earlier for flood relief in Nepal. The money goes toward food and nutrition, temporary shelter and clean water and sanitation. According to the same article, a donation of the same amount in 2024 had made him a member of World Vision’s Bob Pierce Honor Club.