Interview with Yu-Na Kim, hot off the press!
SAUCE
....well it's from yesterday's paper (20th) so I hope it's good enough for you! If you're wondering about the title for this interview, it's from a serial interview column done by the journalist mentioned in the title.
[People whom Bo-Sik Choi met] "Figure Queen" Yu-Na Kim
Yu-Na Kim was wearing black with military-style black boots. I was not unfamiliar with her at all, but she seemed nervous to see me. At first, the figure [skating] queen kept on giving short answers in a low voice.
Q: What did you do today?
YN: I went to school, then trained...
she said she has been attending lectures in University of Korea (Physical Education, 3rd year) since 3 weeks ago. Before, she has been enrolled but never attended the school because of competitions and trainings.
Q: You said before that you are curious about university life and you would like to enjoy it then graduate. Are you enjoying your school days with friends?
YN: I don't go often, and when there are lectures I leave right after those. I attend lectures with other student athletes. If I accidently meet normal students and the word goes out, people flock outside the lecture hall window to look [at me]. In fact, I don't have time to socialize and befriend people.
Q: It's not easy to live the way you want to, right? You have to follow your schedule, not only for various official engagements but in
corporate events such as launch presentations for new cars and potteries.
YN: Sometimes when I am at an event, I wonder 'why am I here?'. But I do it because I have to, even when it's not what I want to do.
Q: Despite being abroad a lot for competitions and trainings, you said before that you want to travel freely without carrying skates or visiting rinks.
YN: Before, I would train all day long for competitions. I had to do it although it's hard and not something I want to do. If my results are not good afterwards, I get stressed. I used to have my head full of thoughts such as "I so wish there was no competition anymore". At that time there were things I wanted to do. However, nowadays I don't have such wishes, I go to school and do other things, this is satisfying.
Q: You always had your mother besides you. Did she relieve your stress?
YN: heh, I didn't get relieved, she gave me stress (laughs)
Q: Why, because she scolded you? You must have had a difficult relationship.
YN: [Our relationship] was continuously bad. When you train, you tend to clash [with your mother]. Although when you grow up you understand [her]. My mother orders me to "do this, do that" so easily, but that itself is stressful. Let her skate herself, it's not as easy as words. I want to do well too, but I get so many orders...
Q: Would you do what your mother did if you have your own children?
YN: I don't think I can be like my mother. I don't want to be like my mother. I am glad I did sports, but it's too hard for my kids.
Q: It was the happiest moment on your life when you earned gold medal in Vancouver Olympic, right?
YN: You're right in terms of the "moment", but moments pass. It's all in the past. I am happier now that I am somewhere free from stress coming from competitions and trainings.
Q: You don't make a lot of facial expressions even in big competitions, when I watch it, I think 'how does she do it at such a young age?'
YN: To say it colloquially, I am "chill". Even when I make mistakes or get bad results I forget it quickly. I never think deeply on one thing. For some shy skaters, it doesn't work well no matter how many psychotherapies they get. I look so relaxed before a competiiton, other people worry about it.
Q: Really, you don't get nervous, even deep inside?
YN: When I get high heartbeats during a competition, it's when my condition isn't perfect or when I am not sure whether I can do well. It shows outwards, too. My face gets stiff, I get quiet and tense. When I am adequately prepared I get a conviction.
Q: You always get compared with Mao Asada, who's at your age.
YN: It's rare to start off together as juniors then be rivals in senior together. I was behind at first, but I felt really competitive because we're both Asians and it's a korea vs japan thing. After some competitions I thought it's worth a try [to try to beat Mao].
Q: Do you guys contact each other in person?
YN: We never talked in depth, we only met during competitions. I don't know what Mao thinks of me but I am grateful to her. We both improved because we were rivals. I wouldn't have had the stimulus or the motivation without her.
Q: I can't forget the tears you shed after beating Asada in Vancouver.
YN: I thought my career as an athlete would end after that Winter Olympic. Then they told me to compete at Worlds at Turin after the gold medal. It was pre-arranged that I would compete there. I achieved what I wanted at olympic, I had no motivation, I couldn't train. I could have been shamed if I went there.
Q: It must have been like a top actress who wants to stay in obscurity to hide her aging appearance to fans.
YN: I made a scene that I don't want to go for the life of me, but the situation forced me to.
In 2010 World figure skating championship in Turin, Yu-Na came 2nd after her rival, Asada.
Q: So it must have been a hard decision to compete at last April's World figure skating championship in Moscow.
YN: I fought for half a year not to compete there. Eventually I was pursuaded to go, but even after the decision, I regretted, I wanted to give up.
Q: Why were you persuaded to skate there?
YN: ...They said the mass media, my fans and the nation will dismiss me if I don't go. I still don't understand. Why?
Q: In the past you had 100% love and support from the nation. But people started talking otherwise after you parted with Brian Orser.
YN: Right, that happened.
Q: In our sentiments, we looked at you two as a mentor and a student. It looked like you guys had a good relationship then you fired him so suddenly...
YN: There was no such contract with him. I am still surprised that the affair was so noisy. Skaters change their coachs, it's normal for every athlete. It's the skater's decision to do so. I needed a new environment after the Olympics.
Q: Orser hinted at the press that you made a bad decision.
YN: A lot of people were saying bad things about my mother then. I was upset that people who don't know anything about what really happened blamed me and my mother. ....Actually, there was a big reason for me going to the Moscow World. I can't say why though.
Q: Our readers would want to know, though.
YN: I can't say it. People around me knows.
After interviewing people around her, it was because of requests from the government and Korea Sports Council, that Yu-Na should compete and stay as a competing athlete for PyeongChang's bid for 2018 winter olympic. [WARMUSE NOTE: I am not sure how literally you should take this in. It sounds plausible but since it's not from her own mouth, I'm reading this with a large pinch of salt. But if it's true Yuna might not have been in a position to say it out loud directly.]
Q: You cried after getting beaten by Miki Ando in Moscow.
YN: The media thought I cried because I was unfairly given the 2nd place, but it's definitely not because of that, it's complicated. It was extremely difficult to prepare for that competition. I was relieved that it was over. When I was on that podium, I cried because I thought 'I'll never be able to stand here again.'
Q: Does it mean, Moscow Worlds is your last competition?
YN: Again...I thought everything was over.
Yuna is not competing this season. She has been silent about her future, too.
Q: People want you to compete 2014 Sochi winter olympic. However, it probably is a cruel request for you.
YN: I trained continuously for Vancouver. After that, they ask me to wait for another 4 years? The only person to have a back-to-back olympic gold is Katarina Witts. In this sports, you're at your peak between 18 to early 20s. It's physically difficult after that age.
Q: You were a girl until recently, but now sometimes you look like a lady.
YN: My body is getting stiffer. In figure skating you do all sorts of things including bending your back, it was initially really difficult when I was preparing for Moscow.
Q: You are called 'nation's fairy', do you have pretty feet?
YN: Normally skaters have prominent toe bones, and have calluses but mine are better than you'd think. (laughs) My feet looks like I did nothing physically demanding all my life.
Q: At your age you'd have boyfriends, but realistically speaking, you probably don't have much opportunity of getting one.
YN: Yeah.
Q: A few years ago, there was Tae Hwan Park...(he's a south korean OGM swimmer)
YN: I wrote once at his cyworld, then netizens told us to get together! Really, I only met Tae-Hwan through official events, we didn't even meet once in person.
Q: But is he your type?
YN: I don't know what kind of headlines would there be if I make a wrong move here..
Q: You're a twitter user, right?
YN: I only use it for publishing my official engagements. I don't have a personal twitter. They make news articles on nothing. For example if I say "I didn't have lunch today", there are headlines all over the place saying "Yu-Na Kim is hungry!" It's boring to make such a fuss on nothing and I don't want to be annoyed by them.
Q: We don't get to see your father's existance, we only see your mother.
YN: That's because I'm always with her. My mother doesn't even let him come to competitions because it's bothersome. But he came to Vancouver. I heard there's all sorts of rumours about him though.
Q: But dads of this world would feel better about themselves if they hear how your father supported you by working hard (he owns a small company), until you became a world-class athlete.
YN: (laughs) but journalists only ask about my mother.
Q: I felt sad when I saw the photo of you sitting exhaustedly at Incheon International airport, after you came back from Durban, South Africa for Winter Olympic bid for Pyeongchang.
YN: Durban was colder than I thought it'd be. I caught cold the day before the presentation, I was worried that I'd lose my voice. I was ok at the event itself but afterwards I was aching all over once the nerve was gone. In the plane back to korea I was shivering even with two blankets. We stopped over in Bangkok, I felt so sick I asked for the next flight, but it turned out to be ok after taking some medication. I felt limp again after arriving at Incheon. I didn't attend the press conference because I didn't want people to see me at my worst. People were really worried about me but it was just a bad cold.
Q: Comparing to other girls around your age, how healthy are you?
YN: I thought I was physically stronger than others because I'm an athlete, but maybe it's not the case. I overused my knees so they're pretty worn out. I have some minor pain all the time.
Q: Have you thought about what you would do after hanging up the skates?
YN: I still don't know. It's not something I have to decide urgently anyway, and there's nothing I particularly want to do. Until now, I only looked ahead to future competitions, only wanted them to end quickly, I didn't have the opportunity to think about things after those.
Q: Do you have any friends you could share your thoughts with?
YN: I meet with a lot of older people. I tend to bond better with older people than people around my age.
I, who's exactly 30 years older than her, talked a lot, and she laughed a lot.
tl;dr
-POOR CHILD, WHY CAN'T SHE EVEN NOT SKATE WHEN SHE DOESN'T WANT TO? ;_; SAD THAT SHE DOESN'T SEEM TO LOVE SKATING AT ALL.
-CREEPY INTERVIEWER IS PROGRESSIVELY CREEPY
-I AM NOW 99.99% SURE SHE WON'T BE COMPETING AGAIN
-YUNA IF YOU DON'T WANT PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT BORSERGATE TELL US WHAT HAPPENED INSTEAD OF JUDGING AT PEOPLE'S CURIOSITY. SRSLY.
LOVE,
WARMUSE WHO CANNOT TRANSLATE KOREAN ACCORDING TO YUNABOTS
....well it's from yesterday's paper (20th) so I hope it's good enough for you! If you're wondering about the title for this interview, it's from a serial interview column done by the journalist mentioned in the title.
[People whom Bo-Sik Choi met] "Figure Queen" Yu-Na Kim
Yu-Na Kim was wearing black with military-style black boots. I was not unfamiliar with her at all, but she seemed nervous to see me. At first, the figure [skating] queen kept on giving short answers in a low voice.
Q: What did you do today?
YN: I went to school, then trained...
she said she has been attending lectures in University of Korea (Physical Education, 3rd year) since 3 weeks ago. Before, she has been enrolled but never attended the school because of competitions and trainings.
Q: You said before that you are curious about university life and you would like to enjoy it then graduate. Are you enjoying your school days with friends?
YN: I don't go often, and when there are lectures I leave right after those. I attend lectures with other student athletes. If I accidently meet normal students and the word goes out, people flock outside the lecture hall window to look [at me]. In fact, I don't have time to socialize and befriend people.
Q: It's not easy to live the way you want to, right? You have to follow your schedule, not only for various official engagements but in
corporate events such as launch presentations for new cars and potteries.
YN: Sometimes when I am at an event, I wonder 'why am I here?'. But I do it because I have to, even when it's not what I want to do.
Q: Despite being abroad a lot for competitions and trainings, you said before that you want to travel freely without carrying skates or visiting rinks.
YN: Before, I would train all day long for competitions. I had to do it although it's hard and not something I want to do. If my results are not good afterwards, I get stressed. I used to have my head full of thoughts such as "I so wish there was no competition anymore". At that time there were things I wanted to do. However, nowadays I don't have such wishes, I go to school and do other things, this is satisfying.
Q: You always had your mother besides you. Did she relieve your stress?
YN: heh, I didn't get relieved, she gave me stress (laughs)
Q: Why, because she scolded you? You must have had a difficult relationship.
YN: [Our relationship] was continuously bad. When you train, you tend to clash [with your mother]. Although when you grow up you understand [her]. My mother orders me to "do this, do that" so easily, but that itself is stressful. Let her skate herself, it's not as easy as words. I want to do well too, but I get so many orders...
Q: Would you do what your mother did if you have your own children?
YN: I don't think I can be like my mother. I don't want to be like my mother. I am glad I did sports, but it's too hard for my kids.
Q: It was the happiest moment on your life when you earned gold medal in Vancouver Olympic, right?
YN: You're right in terms of the "moment", but moments pass. It's all in the past. I am happier now that I am somewhere free from stress coming from competitions and trainings.
Q: You don't make a lot of facial expressions even in big competitions, when I watch it, I think 'how does she do it at such a young age?'
YN: To say it colloquially, I am "chill". Even when I make mistakes or get bad results I forget it quickly. I never think deeply on one thing. For some shy skaters, it doesn't work well no matter how many psychotherapies they get. I look so relaxed before a competiiton, other people worry about it.
Q: Really, you don't get nervous, even deep inside?
YN: When I get high heartbeats during a competition, it's when my condition isn't perfect or when I am not sure whether I can do well. It shows outwards, too. My face gets stiff, I get quiet and tense. When I am adequately prepared I get a conviction.
Q: You always get compared with Mao Asada, who's at your age.
YN: It's rare to start off together as juniors then be rivals in senior together. I was behind at first, but I felt really competitive because we're both Asians and it's a korea vs japan thing. After some competitions I thought it's worth a try [to try to beat Mao].
Q: Do you guys contact each other in person?
YN: We never talked in depth, we only met during competitions. I don't know what Mao thinks of me but I am grateful to her. We both improved because we were rivals. I wouldn't have had the stimulus or the motivation without her.
Q: I can't forget the tears you shed after beating Asada in Vancouver.
YN: I thought my career as an athlete would end after that Winter Olympic. Then they told me to compete at Worlds at Turin after the gold medal. It was pre-arranged that I would compete there. I achieved what I wanted at olympic, I had no motivation, I couldn't train. I could have been shamed if I went there.
Q: It must have been like a top actress who wants to stay in obscurity to hide her aging appearance to fans.
YN: I made a scene that I don't want to go for the life of me, but the situation forced me to.
In 2010 World figure skating championship in Turin, Yu-Na came 2nd after her rival, Asada.
Q: So it must have been a hard decision to compete at last April's World figure skating championship in Moscow.
YN: I fought for half a year not to compete there. Eventually I was pursuaded to go, but even after the decision, I regretted, I wanted to give up.
Q: Why were you persuaded to skate there?
YN: ...They said the mass media, my fans and the nation will dismiss me if I don't go. I still don't understand. Why?
Q: In the past you had 100% love and support from the nation. But people started talking otherwise after you parted with Brian Orser.
YN: Right, that happened.
Q: In our sentiments, we looked at you two as a mentor and a student. It looked like you guys had a good relationship then you fired him so suddenly...
YN: There was no such contract with him. I am still surprised that the affair was so noisy. Skaters change their coachs, it's normal for every athlete. It's the skater's decision to do so. I needed a new environment after the Olympics.
Q: Orser hinted at the press that you made a bad decision.
YN: A lot of people were saying bad things about my mother then. I was upset that people who don't know anything about what really happened blamed me and my mother. ....Actually, there was a big reason for me going to the Moscow World. I can't say why though.
Q: Our readers would want to know, though.
YN: I can't say it. People around me knows.
After interviewing people around her, it was because of requests from the government and Korea Sports Council, that Yu-Na should compete and stay as a competing athlete for PyeongChang's bid for 2018 winter olympic. [WARMUSE NOTE: I am not sure how literally you should take this in. It sounds plausible but since it's not from her own mouth, I'm reading this with a large pinch of salt. But if it's true Yuna might not have been in a position to say it out loud directly.]
Q: You cried after getting beaten by Miki Ando in Moscow.
YN: The media thought I cried because I was unfairly given the 2nd place, but it's definitely not because of that, it's complicated. It was extremely difficult to prepare for that competition. I was relieved that it was over. When I was on that podium, I cried because I thought 'I'll never be able to stand here again.'
Q: Does it mean, Moscow Worlds is your last competition?
YN: Again...I thought everything was over.
Yuna is not competing this season. She has been silent about her future, too.
Q: People want you to compete 2014 Sochi winter olympic. However, it probably is a cruel request for you.
YN: I trained continuously for Vancouver. After that, they ask me to wait for another 4 years? The only person to have a back-to-back olympic gold is Katarina Witts. In this sports, you're at your peak between 18 to early 20s. It's physically difficult after that age.
Q: You were a girl until recently, but now sometimes you look like a lady.
YN: My body is getting stiffer. In figure skating you do all sorts of things including bending your back, it was initially really difficult when I was preparing for Moscow.
Q: You are called 'nation's fairy', do you have pretty feet?
YN: Normally skaters have prominent toe bones, and have calluses but mine are better than you'd think. (laughs) My feet looks like I did nothing physically demanding all my life.
Q: At your age you'd have boyfriends, but realistically speaking, you probably don't have much opportunity of getting one.
YN: Yeah.
Q: A few years ago, there was Tae Hwan Park...(he's a south korean OGM swimmer)
YN: I wrote once at his cyworld, then netizens told us to get together! Really, I only met Tae-Hwan through official events, we didn't even meet once in person.
Q: But is he your type?
YN: I don't know what kind of headlines would there be if I make a wrong move here..
Q: You're a twitter user, right?
YN: I only use it for publishing my official engagements. I don't have a personal twitter. They make news articles on nothing. For example if I say "I didn't have lunch today", there are headlines all over the place saying "Yu-Na Kim is hungry!" It's boring to make such a fuss on nothing and I don't want to be annoyed by them.
Q: We don't get to see your father's existance, we only see your mother.
YN: That's because I'm always with her. My mother doesn't even let him come to competitions because it's bothersome. But he came to Vancouver. I heard there's all sorts of rumours about him though.
Q: But dads of this world would feel better about themselves if they hear how your father supported you by working hard (he owns a small company), until you became a world-class athlete.
YN: (laughs) but journalists only ask about my mother.
Q: I felt sad when I saw the photo of you sitting exhaustedly at Incheon International airport, after you came back from Durban, South Africa for Winter Olympic bid for Pyeongchang.
YN: Durban was colder than I thought it'd be. I caught cold the day before the presentation, I was worried that I'd lose my voice. I was ok at the event itself but afterwards I was aching all over once the nerve was gone. In the plane back to korea I was shivering even with two blankets. We stopped over in Bangkok, I felt so sick I asked for the next flight, but it turned out to be ok after taking some medication. I felt limp again after arriving at Incheon. I didn't attend the press conference because I didn't want people to see me at my worst. People were really worried about me but it was just a bad cold.
Q: Comparing to other girls around your age, how healthy are you?
YN: I thought I was physically stronger than others because I'm an athlete, but maybe it's not the case. I overused my knees so they're pretty worn out. I have some minor pain all the time.
Q: Have you thought about what you would do after hanging up the skates?
YN: I still don't know. It's not something I have to decide urgently anyway, and there's nothing I particularly want to do. Until now, I only looked ahead to future competitions, only wanted them to end quickly, I didn't have the opportunity to think about things after those.
Q: Do you have any friends you could share your thoughts with?
YN: I meet with a lot of older people. I tend to bond better with older people than people around my age.
I, who's exactly 30 years older than her, talked a lot, and she laughed a lot.
tl;dr
-POOR CHILD, WHY CAN'T SHE EVEN NOT SKATE WHEN SHE DOESN'T WANT TO? ;_; SAD THAT SHE DOESN'T SEEM TO LOVE SKATING AT ALL.
-CREEPY INTERVIEWER IS PROGRESSIVELY CREEPY
-I AM NOW 99.99% SURE SHE WON'T BE COMPETING AGAIN
-YUNA IF YOU DON'T WANT PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT BORSERGATE TELL US WHAT HAPPENED INSTEAD OF JUDGING AT PEOPLE'S CURIOSITY. SRSLY.
LOVE,
WARMUSE WHO CANNOT TRANSLATE KOREAN ACCORDING TO YUNABOTS