By Kwon Mee-yoo
Three aspiring Korean ballerinos were accepted by world-class ballet troupes.
Kim Ki-min, 18, a student of Korea National University of Arts (KNUA), was accepted by the Mariinsky Ballet in Russia for the first time as a male dancer from Asia and will officially join the prestigious troupe in September.
Kim, a rising star in Korea's junior ballet scene, won a gold medal at the International Ballet Competition Varna, Bulgaria in 2010 and a silver, with no gold awarded, at the Moscow International Ballet Competition in 2009.
Another ballerino Choi Young-gyu, 20, also a student of KNUA, who picked up two gold medals at Senior Men division and Pas de Deux division at the 2009 Youth America Grand Prix, was accepted by the Dutch National Ballet and will enter the company in August.
Han Sung-woo, 18, the first Korean male dancer to win a second place at the Le Prix de Lausanne, is going to enter The Royal Ballet in the United Kingdom in August.
Kim, Sun-hee, a professor at School of Dance of the KNUA, is the teacher of all three of them.
Woongjin Foundation, led by former deputy culture minister Shin Hyon-ung, has a program supporting young artistically gifted and the three ballerinos received scholarship and mentoring from the foundation.