Kim Yu-jae

Kim was born on 12 June 2009 in Seoul. Her fraternal twin sister, Yu-seong, who is six minutes younger than her, is also a competitive figure skater.^[1][2]

Kim's mother, Ga-young, first enrolled her and her sister Yu-seong into figure skating when they were eight years old as a means of improving their health and growth. Due to the lack of skating rinks where they lived, the family moved to Gwacheon in 2019, where both sisters began training under Choi Hyung-kyung.^[2]

Kim won the silver medal at the 2022 South Korean Junior Championships at the age of twelve.

Based on her junior national podium the previous year, Kim was sent to make her international junior debut on the Junior Grand Prix. Given one assignment, she won the bronze medal at the 2022 JGP France in Courchevel. Kim attempted a triple Axel in the free skate, a rarity among female skaters, landing it a quarter-underrotated.^[3]

After finishing sixth at the 2023 South Korean Championships at the senior level, Kim was given one of three South Korean berths at the 2023 World Junior Championships in Calgary. She finished fourth in the short program with a new personal best, despite receiving a quarter-underrotation call on her triple loop attempt.^[4] In the free skate, Kim successfully landed the triple Axel and received only one quarter call on her other six triple jumps. She was fourth in that segment as well, finishing fourth overall. She indicated that her next goal would be to put two triple Axels in her free skate.^[5][6][7]

In late July, Kim competed at the 2023 South Korean ISU Junior Grand Prix Qualifiers, where she finished sixth. Her performances earned her one assignment on the Junior Grand Prix circuit. She won the bronze medal at the 2023 JGP Turkey.^[8]

In late September, it was announced that Kim and her sister made a coaching change from Choi Hyung-kyung to Chi Hyun-jung and Kim Jin-seo.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Kim went on to compete at the senior national ranking competition, where she finished sixth overall.^[13] At the 2024 South Korean Championships, Kim placed fifth. With this result, both Kim and her sister, who finished fourth at the event, were selected to represent South Korea at the 2024 World Junior Championships.^[14][15] She came sixteenth at the event, while Yu-seong was fifteenth.^[16]

Kim began the season by placing third at the domestic Junior Grand Prix Qualifiers in late July and was given two Junior Grand Prix assignments as a result of her placement.^[17] The following month, it was announced that Kim and her sister had left coaches Chi Hyun-jung and Kim Jin-seo to return to their longtime coach, Choi Hyung-kyung.^[18]

Kim then opened her international season by winning the bronze medal at 2024 JGP Czech Republic before going on to finish seventh at 2024 JGP Poland.^[19][14] In late November, she would compete at the South Korean Ranking Competition, finishing in sixth place. One month later, Kim won the bronze medal at the 2025 South Korean Championships.^[17] Selected to compete at the 2025 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, Kim finished in sixteenth place.^[17]

Kim started the season by winning the domestic Junior Grand Prix Qualifiers in late July and was given two Junior Grand Prix assignments as a result of her placement.^[17] The following month, Kim competed at the 2025 JGP Turkey, where she placed fifth in the short program but won the free skate, allowing her to win the silver medal overall.^[17][20] At the 2025 JGP Poland, Kim won her first JGP gold medal.^[20] Both results allowed Kim to qualify for the 2025–26 Junior Grand Prix Final.^[20] Her sister, Yu-seong, also qualified for the event.^[21] During the competition, Kim placed sixth in the short program and second in the free skate, ultimately settling for fourth place overall.

In January, she finished fourth at the 2026 South Korean Championships.^[17]