By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Figure skating phenom Kim Yu-na is a good bet to become Korea’s next international sports star, possibly joining a privileged club that includes golfer Pak Se-ri and Manchester United winger Park Ji-sung. And she seems to know that better than anyone.
Kim’s management agency, IB Sports, is planning to hire a private English tutor for the 16-year-old figure skater during her training sessions in Canada that begin next week.
The agency will form a team of communication experts to teach Kim how to cope with news interviews, making her more media savvy under the global limelight.
``Kim’s ability in handling interviews has become better in the past years but is still not smooth. We want to make her more confident in expressing herself in front of the international media, which could also have a positive influence on improving her skills on the ice rink,’’ said Ku Dong-hoe, an IB Sports staff member.
``Kim has been training overseas since she was a third grade student in elementary school, so she does have the ear to comprehend English conversations. She needs to improve her speaking skills.’’
Improving her communication skills will also be vital for Kim to upgrade her performance as she depends on foreign coaches for many parts of her training.
Kim was coached by choreographer David Wilson and other foreign coaches in her training sessions in Canada last year and early this year, but admitted that the language barrier was a problem for her to fully understand the instructions.
Kim finished third in the World Figure Skating Championships in March, after winning the world junior title last year.