Korea's figure skating icon Kim Yuna to wed singer Ko Woo-rim

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Lifestyle

Tue, October 3, 2023 | 07:31

People & Events

Korea's figure skating icon Kim Yuna to wed singer Ko Woo-rim

Posted : 2022-07-25 15:42

Updated : 2022-07-25 15:50

Figure skater Kim Yuna, left, and singer Ko Woo-rim will get married in October. Screen captured from Kim and Ko's Instagram accounts respectively

By Lee Gyu-lee

Figure skater Kim Yuna, the 2010 Winter Olympics gold medalist, will marry singer Ko Woo-rim, a member of crossover vocal quartet Forestella.

All That Sports, the agency of Korea's skating legend, and Ko's agency, Beat Interactive, said Monday that Kim, 32, and Ko, 27, will tie the knot "at the end of this October in Seoul."

Adding that the couple has been dating for three years, the agencies noted that the wedding will be held in private. "Kim and Ko met at 'All That Skate' ice show in 2018 when Forestella was invited (to the show) as a guest singer. And after three years in a relationship, they decided to tie the knot," they said.

"As both Kim and Ko want a wedding ceremony with only family and close friends, the details of the wedding date and venue have not been released and will be kept private from the media. We ask fans and media for their understanding."

Nevertheless, immediately after their announcement, there were media reports that the wedding will be held at the Shilla hotel in Seoul on Oct. 22. However, the respective agencies representing the couple did not comment.

Kim Yuna performs during the "All That Skate" ice show in Seoul in this 2019 photo. Yonhap

Kim has been the superstar of the nation's sports circle, coming out of nowhere in Korea's figure skating scene where no Korean figure skater had advanced to the final rounds at world championships.

Becoming involved in figure skating at the age of seven, she dominated the world championships since her junior years and became the first female skater to break the 200-point mark in 2009.

She became Korea's iconic figure skater after winning gold in the 2010 Winter Olympics with a world record of 228.56 points. The win made her the first figure skater to win an Olympic medal in Korea.

Singer Ko Woo-rim / Newsis

Kim was also the first female figure skater to notch a "grand slam" in 2010 by winning the World Grand Prix Final, Four Continents Championships, World Championships, and the Winter Olympics. She retired after winning silver in the 2014 Winter Olympics.

After retirement, she has been engaged in various activities in the sports world. She was the promotional ambassador for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang and was the final torch bearer of the Games.

Ko, who studied classical music as an undergraduate at Seoul National University and is currently taking a graduate course at the school, became familiar to the public after his team, Forestella, came in first place in JTBC's music survival show "Phantom Singer 2" in 2017.

He made his debut with the quartet, which blends both classical and pop music, in 2018, after the show ended. The group has released several songs like "Angel" (2019) and "Moonlight" (2022) and has been starring in TV shows like "King of Mask Singer."

gyulee@koreatimes.co.kr