Lee Hyun-yi and Hong Seong-gi's Son Accepted to Prestigious U.S. CTY Camp

Model Lee Hyun-yi and her husband Hong Seong-gi, who works at Samsung Electronics, have revealed through YouTube how their eldest son, Yun-seo, was accepted to CTY Camp, a prestigious gifted-student camp in the United States. Yun-seo is currently in the fifth grade of elementary school, and the couple laid out the process they followed as parents while keeping the focus on their son's own interest and preparation.

Lee Hyun-yi said, "Our eldest son Yun-seo is going to a summer camp run by Johns Hopkins this summer," and went on to introduce detailed information related to the camp. The couple explained the program not simply as a short experience abroad, but as an academically oriented summer course connected to the interests Yun-seo had already been developing.

Yun-seo is known to have a strong interest in mathematics and robotics. Describing CTY Camp, Hong Seong-gi said, "It is not an experience-based camp, but a learning-based camp. It is a program for students with high academic achievement and curiosity." His explanation framed the camp as a place for students who want to study a subject in depth rather than merely spend time in an overseas program.

Hong emphasized that the key to applying was not the parents' ambition, but the child's own motivation. He added that Yun-seo had become interested in life at a U.S. boarding school after reading books about Elon Musk from around the third and fourth grades of elementary school, and that he had shown a clear desire to try making robots and taking coding classes.

He said, "Yun-seo became interested when he heard that he could live in a U.S. university dormitory, make robots, and do coding. The fact that a friend had also been accepted gave him even more motivation." In the couple's telling, the decision grew out of Yun-seo's curiosity about robotics, coding, and studying in an environment away from home.

From January to March, Yun-seo prepared for the SCAT test by studying the U.S. curriculum. He was ultimately accepted after receiving the highest level in the quantitative section. Lee Hyun-yi said she struggled with parts of the process such as registration and grade selection, and ended up paying the test fee twice. Offering practical advice, she said, "You have to solve 50 questions in 22 minutes. Online testing is possible, but if you can, I recommend taking it at a test center."

Hong Seong-gi also shared how the results were delivered. "The test results come out within 48 hours," he said. "Yun-seo received the highest level in the quantitative section, and although he did not pass the verbal section, passing the quantitative section alone allowed him to apply for the program he wanted." The couple explained that this result was enough for Yun-seo to move forward with the course he had hoped to take.

Yun-seo ultimately chose the course "Introduction to Robotics," where he will learn robot building and coding. The choice matched the interests his parents had described throughout the application process.

Lee Hyun-yi married Hong Seong-gi in 2012, and the couple have two sons.