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Two is very good company for Korea's up-and-coming twin figure skaters

Published: 02 Jun. 2026, 07:00

Figure skating twins Kim Yu-jae and Kim Yu-seong pose during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, on May 13. [WOO SANG-JO]

Born together, training together, competing against each other — Korean figure skating twins are turning synchronized lives into synchronized success on the ice.

Kim Yu-seong, who was born six minutes after her older sister, Kim Yu-jae, was born, captured a gold medal at the fifth series of the International Skating Union (ISU) Figure Skating Junior Grand Prix in the 2025-26 season. The elder twin followed with a victory at the sixth. Together, the 17-year-old identical twins have emerged as two of the most promising figure skaters in the country.

The twins were so strikingly alike that they seemed almost like mirror images — from their similar silhouettes and matching ponytails to their calm, even-toned voices — when the JoongAng Ilbo met them for an interview at the Gwacheon ice rink in Gyeonggi on May 13.

“I am 1 centimeter taller [0.4 inches],” Kim Yu-jae said. “People with a good eye can tell.”

The sisters first stepped onto the ice during winter break when they were second graders in elementary school. Their father played drums and bass guitar during his college years and filled their childhood with bands like Oasis. The twins' childhood experience helped them develop the musical sensitivity that defines their performances today.

“Everything costs twice as much, and there’s twice as much for our parents to worry about,” Kim Yu-seong said. “But they’ve always believed in us. And our sponsor, KB [Financial Group], has been incredibly supportive.”

The twins' similarities extend beyond the rink.

Kim Yu-jae performs during a domestic competition at the Mokdong Ice Rink in western Seoul on Nov. 30. [NEWS1]

Both are left-handed. Their favorite food is tteokbokki (spicy rice cake). They root for the Doosan Bears when it comes to baseball. The sisters even share the same celebrity crush: Park Ji-hoon, a former K-pop idol and actor who played King Danjong (1441-57) in the recent historical film “The King’s Warden.”

The twins say they have watched Kim Yuna’s gold medal-winning performance at the 2010 Winter Olympics Games in Vancouver more than a thousand times. The twins were overwhelmed and starstruck when they met the legendary skater at the Taereung International Skating Rink. They recalled that they barely made eye contact with Olympic champion Kim.

“If I meet Kim Yuna again, I want to ask how she stayed mentally composed and focused under the pressure of major competitions,” Kim Yu-jae said. Kim Yu-seong echoed her sister, saying, “I’d want to know what she would consider most important if she could go back to our age."

“As Alysa Liu did, we want to deliver performances with warmth and emotionally move the crowd,” the twins said together.

Even their signature jump is the same: a triple axel. The jump, which launches skaters forward into three and a half rotations before landing, is one of the sport’s most challenging elements. However, once landed, it leads to generous extra points.

In Korea, only You Young and the twins have successfully landed the jump in official ISU competitions. Kim Yu-jae landed the triple axel for the first time in Calgary, Canada, in 2023. Kim Yu-seong, who took her older sister's advice, landed the jump in Bangkok a year later.

Even the legendary Kim Yuna has never landed the triple axel at official competitions.

Figure skating twins Kim Yu-jae and Kim Yu-seong pose during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, on May 13. [WOO SANG-JO]

Over the past year, both sisters have grown by nearly 4 centimeters.

As they grew taller, the twins had to adjust the timing and rotational axis of their jumps. With the help of gymnastics tumbling practices, they now successfully land about seven out of 10 tries.

Yet the sisters seem to channel the complicated dynamic of inevitable comparison as identical twins into a source of motivation.

“Yu-seong has a calmness I really admire,” Kim Yu-jae said. “Even after mistakes, she moves on quickly.”

“Yu-jae is more technically refined than I am,” Kim Yu-seong said.

“Yu-seong is like one side of my skate,” Kim Yu-jae said. “Just as both blades need to align perfectly to glide across the ice, I can only move forward when we’re together.”

Kim Yu-seong performs during the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Azerbaijan on Sep. 26, 2025. [INTERNATIONAL SKATING UNION]

Despite having enough space at home, the sisters still share a bedroom and spend nearly every waking hour together.

“If Yu-jae is the blue sky, then I’m the ground,” Kim Yu-seong said. “Like how a world only feels complete when both exist together.”

The twins have saved each other’s names in their phones as “my partner.” On days when one performs better, the winner does not offer grand words of comfort to the other. They simply stay beside each other.

Last season, the sisters both qualified for the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final. Kim Yu-seong earned a silver medal, while Kim Yu-jae finished fourth. Their gala exhibition — built around perfectly mirrored choreography — quickly went viral online.

“Fans said we looked like a decalcomania painting,” Kim Yu-jae said, referring to the style of painting that involves folding the surface over to produce a mirror-image work of art.

Although the twins finished second and third at the domestic qualifications for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, the ISU’s age restriction barred them from joining the Olympic team: They were 16 at the time, one year short of the ISU minimum age for senior competitions.

Figure skating twins Kim Yu-jae and Kim Yu-seong pose during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, on May 13. [WOO SANG-JO]

The sisters are expected to make their senior debut at an ISU Challenger Series event around August.

“The program will feel more intense and grand, and the costumes will have a more mature aesthetic,” Kim Yu-jae said.

“Instead of the lyrical style we usually skate to, we’re trying something more unconventional,” Kim Yu-seong added.

To strengthen their stage presence and expressiveness, the sisters have also been practicing dance routines by K-pop girl groups IVE and ILLIT.

Their eyes are now fixed on the French Alps 2030 Olympic Winter Games.

“Olympic figure skating has never seen twin sisters compete in women’s singles,” the sisters said. “If the two of us could stand on the Olympic stage together, what could possibly be more special or extraordinary than that?”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK LIN [[email protected]]