'Ad queen': Retired Kim Yuna rules outside stadiums

Kim Yuna from a Maxim White Gold Coffee Mix TV commercial

By Ko Dong-hwan

Even after her retirement, former figure skater Kim Yuna is as domineering as ever, with her pay grade in the South Korean ad industry is found to be almost unbeatable.

Kim, 28, known as "queen" in Seoul, has been busily featuring in commercials after solidifying her reputation, winning gold in the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games and silver in Sochi. After she retired following the Sochi Games, the chances for people to watch her elegant performances on ice ended, casting doubts whether her great era was over.

It was not over. In fact, people could see her more frequently as her number of commercials increased. Her pay in South Korean ad market is now at 1 billion ($930,000) to 1.4 billion won per ad, according to industry watchers. She turned from "queen" to the "ad queen."

And, with PyeongChang Winter Games being held this month, Kim almost paved her presence all over the Olympic TV commercials. Thanks to her role in the Games' opening ceremony, where she was the final Olympic torch bearer, briefly exhibiting her skating prowess before lighting the cauldron at the PyeongChang Olympic Plaza in front of millions of audience and TV viewers around the world.

Ad industry experts expect she will earn more than 16 billion won this year, compared to 15 billion last year. Her income comes from ten companies that employ her as a model, according to All Thant Sports, an athlete management agency representing Kim. The clientele includes major groups such as SK Telecom, KB Financial Group, Coca-Cola, as well as jewelry designer J.Estina and cosmetic brand It's Skin.

"Kim's pay rate is almost the same as that of top South Korean actresses well over 1 billion won," said an official from one of the companies. "With her appearance at the opening ceremony, I think she will receive more calls."

Another commercial client said the former Olympian is not only sought during the Winter Games but the Summer Games as well, bringing the "Kim Yuna effect" to the ad market every two years.

Her business followers say Kim, unlike other hot celebrity ad stars, evokes a unique emotional friendliness that can only be found from an athlete.

"A low number of anti-fans, naivety, and gorgeousness are part of her forte that make people fantasize about her," a J.Estina official said, calling her "ideal" for a corporate model.

Kim has been sticking to sports and promoting sports, not veering off to acting or singing, which garnered her the image of a "volunteering celebrity for the nation," said All That Sports CEO Koo Dong-hoi.

A South Korean company reputation research agency said that big data related to Kim contain keywords like "beautiful," "doing well" and "like," while related links include "queen," "PyeongChang" and "Olympic." They said positive responses deriving from her were 63.79 percent.

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