Korean student goes viral for baffling 'floating feet' dance video

A video of Daegu middle school student Lee Hyo-cheol doing a dance move known as the "Jubi Slide," or "Slickback" has captivated viewers, gaining more than 200 million views and 2.3 million likes on TikTok.

Daegu middle school student Lee Hyo-cheol dances the Jubi Slide, or the Slickback, in a video. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A video of a male student seemingly gliding, or even floating, with his dance moves has gone viral, gaining more than 200 million views and 2.3 million likes on TikTok.

The star of the video is Lee Hyo-cheol, a 3rd grade student at Yongsan Middle School in Daegu. The TikTok account on which the video was posted is owned by Lee’s friend.

Lee is doing the “Jubi Slide” dance move, or the “Slickback” trend as it is more popularly referred to now, which makes the dancer seemingly float or glide without any video editing or camera tricks.

The Jubi Slide was created by and named after Youtuber and TikToker jubi2fye in 2022, and was performed as part of a viral TikTok trend called the Aye Aye slide.

The dance move was once again popularized in 2023, now as the Slickback, due to the use of Lakim’s song “A Pimp Named Slickback” (2019) in the most viewed videos.

Lee Hyo-cheol, the star of the now viral TikTok video of him doing the Jubi Slide, answers questions from the host of the YouTube channel ″Geunhwang Olympic.″ [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Lee and his friend appeared on YouTube channel “Geunhwang Olympic,” translated as “Current news Olympics,” to talk about Lee’s recent shot to fame.

Lee broke out the Jubi Slide move in the YouTube video. When asked about his secret behind the move, he replied “people said if you jump on your heels, it looks as if you’re slightly floating.”

“I just danced so I can’t explain the mechanics that well. I dance instinctively,” he said.

“What I’m doing isn’t exactly the Slickback, it’s something else, but people seemed to like it more. Originally, you’re supposed to drag your feet while doing the dance but for me, my feet look like they’re floating,” he said in the interview. “The inside of my thighs hurt if I do [the move] too much,” he added.

Lee described himself as a “student who likes to joke around and dance at school.” When asked about his future aspirations, he replied that he wants to “work at a company and live a normal life.”

When asked if he would be interested in becoming a [K-pop] idol or working in the entertainment industry should offers come up, he said he would “think about it.”

“I’m thankful for the attention. I will upload more videos in the future,” he said.

BY HA SU-YOUNG, KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]