ID :
35761
Mon, 12/15/2008 - 17:49
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/35761
The shortlink copeid
Everybody's in love with Kim Yu-na, and so is the market
By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Yonhap) -- Everyone loves Kim Yu-na, and this fair-skinned, ice-slicing high school sweetheart has become a magnet for South Korean companies hoping to capitalize on her charm.
Kim, an 18-year-old figure skater who took silver at the Grand Prix Final before
an adoring home crowd this weekend signed a two-year sponsorship deal Monday with
South Korea's top automaker, Hyundai Motors.
Company officials adamantly decline to disclose the amount of money Kim will earn
from the deal in her lead up to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, where she will take
her first shot at landing an Olympic gold.
But the two-time Grand Prix Final champion wouldn't feel the pinch even without
the support of the world's sixth-largest carmaker given that she has already
earned an estimated 4 billion won (US$2.9 million) by appearing in commercials
for a dozen local companies.
At a time when companies are reeling from a worldwide economic scare that also
has producers and entertainers wringing their hands over a shrinking
advertisement market, Kim is single-handedly ringing up sizable cash and says she
can still manage to stay in top form.
"I'm scheduling myself so it doesn't harm my practice," she said during a news
conference at a Hyundai office in Seoul. "It doesn't seem to affect my training
that much."
Kim -- dubbed "Queen" by her fans and the local media -- added the avalanche of
support is quite a turnaround considering her younger years when she struggled
from a lack of interest in her sport.
"In my junior years or childhood, there were times when things were financially
difficult," Kim said, recounting the days when one of the most harrowing parts of
her training was just finding a place to skate.
"As time went by, more and more people came up to me and helped me feel stronger,
and they made me want to work harder," said Kim, who galvanized her fellow
Koreans when she became the first-ever from her country to win a medal at a
senior international figure skating contest in 2005.
Kim was recently admitted to one of South Korea's most prominent universities.
Colleges had scrambled to win her heart, sharply contrasting with the general
picture where most South Korean high school students compete fiendishly against
each other to gain admission. Kim picked Korea University because, she said, "it
has a nice ice rink."
SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Yonhap) -- Everyone loves Kim Yu-na, and this fair-skinned, ice-slicing high school sweetheart has become a magnet for South Korean companies hoping to capitalize on her charm.
Kim, an 18-year-old figure skater who took silver at the Grand Prix Final before
an adoring home crowd this weekend signed a two-year sponsorship deal Monday with
South Korea's top automaker, Hyundai Motors.
Company officials adamantly decline to disclose the amount of money Kim will earn
from the deal in her lead up to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, where she will take
her first shot at landing an Olympic gold.
But the two-time Grand Prix Final champion wouldn't feel the pinch even without
the support of the world's sixth-largest carmaker given that she has already
earned an estimated 4 billion won (US$2.9 million) by appearing in commercials
for a dozen local companies.
At a time when companies are reeling from a worldwide economic scare that also
has producers and entertainers wringing their hands over a shrinking
advertisement market, Kim is single-handedly ringing up sizable cash and says she
can still manage to stay in top form.
"I'm scheduling myself so it doesn't harm my practice," she said during a news
conference at a Hyundai office in Seoul. "It doesn't seem to affect my training
that much."
Kim -- dubbed "Queen" by her fans and the local media -- added the avalanche of
support is quite a turnaround considering her younger years when she struggled
from a lack of interest in her sport.
"In my junior years or childhood, there were times when things were financially
difficult," Kim said, recounting the days when one of the most harrowing parts of
her training was just finding a place to skate.
"As time went by, more and more people came up to me and helped me feel stronger,
and they made me want to work harder," said Kim, who galvanized her fellow
Koreans when she became the first-ever from her country to win a medal at a
senior international figure skating contest in 2005.
Kim was recently admitted to one of South Korea's most prominent universities.
Colleges had scrambled to win her heart, sharply contrasting with the general
picture where most South Korean high school students compete fiendishly against
each other to gain admission. Kim picked Korea University because, she said, "it
has a nice ice rink."
