Kwon Kyung-ha Recalls Teaching G-Dragon Before His BIGBANG Debut

Actress Kwon Kyung-ha has drawn attention from K-pop fans after revealing that she once served as G-Dragon’s middle school homeroom teacher, offering a rare personal look at the BIGBANG member before his official rise as one of Korean pop’s most recognizable figures.

The comments came through an appearance on the YouTube channel Lazy Rabbit, where Kwon spoke about her past teaching career and her time at Seoul Gugak Arts Middle School, now known as the National Traditional Arts Middle School. According to News1 and other Korean outlets, Kwon said she taught Kwon Ji-yong, G-Dragon’s birth name, from his first through third years of middle school.

Her memories were warm and specific. Kwon described the young G-Dragon as a student who already had noticeable talent, strong individuality, and a sense of performance. She said she still feels a personal kind of pride when she sees him on television because she remembers him from long before the global stage, music charts, and fashion campaigns.

A Teacher’s View Of A Future Star

Kwon’s account adds a human-scale detail to a career that is often discussed in superlatives. G-Dragon is widely known as a defining second-generation K-pop figure, a BIGBANG member, a solo artist, a producer, and a style influence. But in Kwon’s telling, the roots of that public identity were visible in school performances and classroom life.

Star News reported that Kwon remembered working with him in a school production and said he had a strong feel for acting even then. She also recalled that he later transferred around his first year of high school because his entertainment activities had become more demanding, a detail that fits the timeline of a trainee moving closer to a professional debut.

One part of the story that especially caught fans’ attention was Kwon’s recollection of another familiar figure appearing with him. Dong-A Ilbo reported that Kwon said G-Dragon often came to school events with a friend who she believes was Taeyang. She remembered the pair performing music and dance, including breakdancing, and participating consistently in school stages over several years.

Why The Anecdote Resonated

For longtime BIGBANG listeners, the mention of Taeyang gives the anecdote a nostalgic charge. G-Dragon and Taeyang are closely associated not only as groupmates but also as longtime creative peers whose training history stretches back before their official debut. Hearing a former teacher describe the two as students performing together gives fans a glimpse of that partnership before it became part of K-pop history.

Kwon also pointed to G-Dragon’s fashion sense as something that already seemed unusual when he was young. That observation has circulated widely because it aligns with his later reputation as one of K-pop’s strongest fashion personalities. In the entertainment industry, many childhood anecdotes are vague, but this one connects directly to traits fans still associate with him: stage confidence, visual instinct, and a willingness to stand apart.

The story is not a career announcement or comeback update, but it has news value because it reframes a familiar artist through the eyes of someone who knew him in a very different context. Rather than focusing on metrics or controversy, the reports center on memory: a teacher watching a student become the kind of performer she had already sensed he might be.

Kwon ended her remarks with a supportive message to her former student, saying she was happy he had grown into such an impressive person and that she continues to cheer him on, even though they have not met in a long time. That tone helped keep the discussion affectionate rather than sensational.

The attention around the clip also reflects how K-pop audiences respond to origin stories. Fans often know the polished debut stage, the trainee narrative, and the public discography, but accounts from teachers, classmates, or early collaborators can fill in smaller details that make an artist’s path feel less abstract. In this case, the classroom memory reinforces the idea that G-Dragon’s public persona did not appear overnight.

As the anecdote spread through Korean entertainment media, it became less about discovering a secret and more about confirming a long-held fan impression. Before he became G-Dragon, Kwon Ji-yong was already performing, experimenting with style, and leaving a strong impression on the adults around him.