It has been belatedly revealed that former figure skating icon Kim Yuna had special conditions when filming advertisements.
According to a recent report on February 3, Kim Yuna had set "unexpected" and special conditions when filming over 136 commercials, each reportedly worth over 1 billion KRW (approx. 684,292 USD). It was revealed that Kim Yuna encouraged companies to sponsor figure skating as part of her advertising contracts. During the peak of her competitive career, Kim appeared in an extraordinary number of commercials, beginning with a KB Kookmin Bank ad in 2007 and expanding to endorsements for beer, air conditioners, coffee, sneakers, cosmetics, and more. In 2012 alone, she reportedly filmed as many as 136 advertisements.
A September 2022 episode of KBS2’s 'Entertainment Company Live' also revealed that Kim had signed more than 100 advertising deals over the years. Her appearance fee was estimated at around 1 billion KRW per commercial. Even by simple calculation, this would put her annual advertising income at over 100 billion KRW (approx. 68.5 million USD). She is also known to own a luxury residence in the Dongjak District, Seoul, as well as three commercial properties in a new city in Incheon.
While some critics questioned whether she was appearing in too many advertisements purely for profit, it later emerged that Kim Yuna consistently proposed special contractual terms. At the time, she was personally covering not only her own training expenses but also providing financial support to the figure skating community. As part of her ad deals, she requested that companies contribute to sponsoring figure skating, making support for the sport a key condition of her contracts.
Beyond this, Kim Yuna has long been active in philanthropy. Serving as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, she has offered extensive support both in Korea and abroad, with her cumulative donations reportedly reaching 5 billion KRW over the years.
Meanwhile, Kim Yuna made history at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, winning gold in the women’s singles event and becoming South Korea’s first-ever Olympic medalist in figure skating. She went on to add a silver medal at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, her retirement stage, cementing her legacy as the sport’s undisputed queen.
After retiring from competition, Kim married singer Ko Woo Rim in July 2022 following three years of dating. Ko Woo Rim completed his mandatory military service in the Army Band and was discharged in May last year.
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