Kim Yeon-Koung: Bio, Career, Charity & Net Worth

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Kim Yeon-Koung is a professional South Korean volleyball player, and she has won many titles in her career.

Yeon has won the various decorations for South Korea, acquiring gold for the 2014 Asian games.

Kim has played with many clubs like; JTR marvelous, Fenerbahce, and Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink spiders at the club level.

Kim was an outside hitter and former captain of the South Korean National Volleyball team, and she retired from SKNV in August 2021.

Yeon is the first player in Asian volleyball to get an MVP grant in the CEV Women’s Champions League.

Kim-Yeon-Koung
Kim Yeon-Koung (Source: Instagram Image)

Kim was the top scorer in the 2012 London Olympics despite not having a platform finish. Yeon-Koung conveys the Olympics record for the most top score of 207 points in eight games.

Yeon is the first player with four entries in Olympic Games matches to score 30 points or more in a single match.

Similarly, Kim is so career-focused that she has no relationships, and she is still unmarried.

Quick Facts

Full Name Kim Yeon-Koung
Nick Name Bread Unnie, Yaki, Yeonpal
Birthdate 26 February 1988
Age 26 Years old 
Zodiac Sign Pisces
Mother’s Name Lee Keum-Ok
Father’s Name Kim Dong-Gil
Siblings One sister, Kim Hye-Kyung
Birthplace Ansan, South Korea
Home Town Ansan, South Korea
Nationality South Korean
Ethnicity Asian
Residence Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
School Hanil Women’s High School
Education Graduate
Height 1.92 m (6’4″)
Weight 73 kg (161 lb)
Eye Color Black
Hair Color Black
Sexual Orientation Straight
Martial Status Unmarried
Partner None
Profession Professional Volleyball Player
Debut 2005 
Olympics Wins None
Awards Four MVP awards
Position Outside Hitter
Jersey No. 10
Status Active
Current Club Shanghai
Past clubs Fenerbahçe, JT Marvelous
Hobbies Traveling
Net Worth $1.9 Million
Salary $289,495
Worldwide Competition Summer Olympics, FIVB World Championships, etc.
Social Media FacebookTwitterYoutubeInstagram
Favorite Destination Paris
Last Update November, 2024

Physical Appearance

Kim is no doubt the best professional volleyball player, despite that she is an attractive woman.

Similarly, Kim has fair skin and tall physics with an athletic body; she is 1.92m tall and weighs around 161lbs.

To maintain a fit physics and healthy body, she does exercise 6 days a week and follows the diet planned by her professional nutritionist.

Accordingly, Kim Yeon-Koung is from Asian ethnic, and she has black hair and mesmerizing black eyes.

Early Life

Kim Yeon-Koung is a world-renowned volleyball player, and she has her admirer all around the globe.

The best volleyball player Kim Yeon-Koung was born on 26 February 1988 in Asan, South Korea.

She was born to Kim Dong-Gil (father) and Lee Keum-Ok (mother); likewise, she has one sister named Kim Hye-Kyung.

Kim was fond of volleyball from a very young age when she was in 4th grade, and since then, she has never stopped.

Kim Yeon-Koung childhood picture (Source: Instagram)
Kim Yeon-Koung childhood picture (Source: Instagram)

Accordingly, Yeon was inspired by her sister to play volleyball because she was also a volleyball player.

She studied at the Hanil Women’s High School, and further about her studies is not known except that she is a graduate.

Kim decided to leave volleyball and thought to play soccer in middle school because her height was below 170cm.

Luckily, during Kim’s three years at Hanil Women’s High School, she grew more than 20 cm and played an outside hitter position.

Due to her excellent games and physical condition Kim was selected in the South Korean National Team in 2005.

Yeon made her worldwide presentation at the World Grand Champions Cup as the third-best scorer.

Subsequently, Kim was chosen as the best option in the first round of the V-League draft by the Cheonan Heungkuk Life, where she began her expert volleyball profession.

Professional Journey

During her first expert season, Kim played from Heungkuk Life and became the winner of the Korean League.

Kim received many awards, including the ‘New Face Award,’ ‘Regular Season MVP,’ ‘Final Championship MVP,’ ‘Best Scorer,’ etc.

Be that as it may, Kim needed to get medical surgery on her right knee a short time after the League.

Kim participated in the 2006 World Championship and 2006 Asian Games before being completely healed from surgery.

Heungkuk Life turned into the defending champ of the 2006-07 season with the assistance of Kim.

The team accomplished being the first to spot in the standard season and regularly won the finals for two years.

Kim was chosen as the MVP for both the standard season and title and was likewise the best spiker of the regular season.

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Kim added her team in the first spot in the 2007-08 regular season; likewise, she got the MVP grant.

In the 2008-09 season, Kim turned into the primary female player of the Korean V-League, scoring 2000 points and 2000 attack points.

Japanese V.Premier League (2009-2011):

Kim marked an agreement to play abroad in the Japanese V.Premier League with JT Marvelous.

She turned out to be South Korea’s first expert volleyball player to play abroad after KOVO was established in 2005.

By keeping Kim as the leading attacking player, JT set the records in 2009-2010, winning 25 games.

Similarly, Kim was the best scorer of the standard season with 696 points altogether, making JT a winner in the regular season.

The team experienced a staggering misfortune against Toray Arrows; however, Kim was nominated for the ‘Battling Spirit Award’ and ‘Best 6’.

In September, Kim was necessary for the National Team list during the 2010 Asian Cup and turned into the best scorer and best spiker.

Then, at that point, she played at the 2010 World Championship, where the group completed the thirteenth spot.

Similarly, Kim Yeon-Koung won a silver decoration, the first award in the 2010 Asian Games.

Kim took an interest in the Grand Prix, Asian Championship, and World Cup likewise, and she was the best scorer and best spiker of the 2011 Asian Championship.

Fenerbahce (2011-2017):

Jos Roberto Guimares convinced the group president to carry Kim to Fenerbahce for the 2011-12 season.

Jose saw potential in Kim to turn into “probably the best player in the world,” notwithstanding she was unknown in Europe.

Kim showed an exceptional presentation in her first season playing in Europe, as she helped Fenerbahce guarantee their first CEV Champions League champion title.

As indicated by FIVB, Kim was viewed as the best volleyball player on the planet by numerous writers and mentors.

In London Olympics 2012, Kim Yeon-Koung showed her one of the best and incredible performances.

Kim-Yeon-Koung-Playing-In-London-Olympics
Kim Yeon Koung playing in London Olympics (Source: Instagram Image)

After being awarded the MVP of the 2012 London Olympics, Kim was likewise chosen as one of the FIVB Heroes. In 2016, FIVB Athletes’ Commission chose Kim as a member.

During the 2016 Olympic World Qualification Tournament, Kim showed remarkable execution against the Netherlands, assisting Korea with winning.

Chinese Super League & V.League:

Kim finished her agreement with Fenerbahce, where she had spent beyond six seasons and moved to Shanghai.

She likewise drove Shanghai to number one place for the 2017-18 regular season, accomplishing the achievements in 17 years by the group.

Kim Yeon-Koung got the Best Foreign Player Award after being the runners-up in the finals.

Following one year in the Chinese League, Kim got back to Turkey and made a two-year contract with Eczacba.

The group won the Turkish Cup for the first time in seven years, just as the Super Cup.

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For the 2019-20 season, Kim turned into the new captain of Eczacba, filling in Jordan Larson’s place.

In 2021, Kim Yeon Kyung marked an agreement with Shanghai, China, and currently playing for Shanghai.

Injuries:

Kim has experienced many kinds of minor and major injuries in her professional sports career.

Yeon has had four knee medical procedures alone from 2006 to 2009 while playing for Heungkuk Life.

In 2012, Kim tore her ideal meniscus during the opening game against Brazil during the 2012 London Olympics.

Similarly, Yeon’s physical issue deteriorated more after falling to land and hitting hard during the quarterfinals against Italy.

In the 2012-2013 season, Kim chose to push her limits and play with just recovery and not get a medical procedure that made her health issue more serious.

Kim broke her toenail while training in 2014, driving her to miss a game against Eczacibasi VitrA while playing the 100th game for Fenerbahce.

During the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament 2020, Kim experienced a stomach injury.

After receiving medical treatment from a local hospital, Kim played the game during the finals of the Asian Olympics.

Due to deteriorated injury, Kim missed a month of the 2019-2020 season playing for Eczacibasi.

Endorsements

With such abilities and achievements, Kim may be the most famous player in Korea presently. Accordingly, Kim has worked with numerous Korean brands till now, and she is making good money.

Kim has worked with certain brands, including pounding chicken, Barilla Pasta, hi mart, Mizuno Volleyball Shoes.

Similarly, she has also endorsed SEP beauty care products, Nivea, UA Rush, FSN, World Con, Under Armor Korea, and so forth.

Kim-Yeon-Koung-Promoting-Nivea
Kim Yeon-Koung promoting Nivea (Source: Twitter Image)

Kim Yeon worked as a brand ambassador for many organizations, and she was the Honorary Ambassador for the Korean tourism industry in 2013.

In 2018, Kim was The Seoul Hospital Ambassador and Land Rover All-New discovery Ambassador. Additionally, in 2019, Kim was Volvo XC90 Ambassador.

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Moreover, Kim has repeatedly shown up in numerous magazines, for example, Sports 2.0, volleyball, the spike, magazine S, etc.

Kim has tie-ups with many others brands such as Vaseline Korea, Ling Tea, Cadillac, Herba Life.

Net Worth & Salary

The more significant part of Kim’s pay comes from her salary, agreements, and the rest from her brand endorsements.

Kim is possibly the most pursued player, and enormous clubs will spend vast loads of cash on her.

Likewise, Kim’s contracts have just gone up throughout the long term, and she is making good wealth.

During Kim’s first season with Pink Spiders back in 2005, her compensation was 50 million South Korean won.

Likewise, in the 2007-2008 season, Kim accepted 94 million South Korean won as a yearly salary.

Better than the 2008 season, Kim received a considerable amount of 120 million South Korean won salary in the next season.

Likewise, she received around 2 billion South Korean won as annual salary at the peak of her career before moving to Shangai.

Therefore, Kim is the wealthiest athlete in volleyball, and she has a total net worth estimated around $1.9 million.

Business Venture

All the famous and renowned sportsperson have their business ventures and investments. Kim also has made some investments, and she has many business ventures opened in her command.

Kim Yeon-Koung is very well known in her nation of origin Korea, and likewise, she is famous in Turkey.

Additionally, since Kim has fabricated a brand around herself, it offers her more chances to benefit from it.

The talented player claims a games institute in Korea where children can learn volleyball, football, and basketball.

Kim-Yeon-Koung-Sports-Academy
Kim Yeon-Koung Sports Academy (Source: Twitter Image)

As of late, Kim dispatched a funky “Bread Uniee” Merchandise that comprised of graphics shirts.

Kim advanced the dispatch with a topical photoshoot by Kim herself. Similarly, the limited-edition release merchandise sold quickly among her fans.

A couple of years back, Kim had dispatched one more series of shirts with MIZUNO, including her number 10.

Likewise, Kim, the prominent player, has additionally distributed a book called “Its, not the end.”

Charitable Works

In 2009, in the wake of moving to JT, Kim worked with IIju Academic and social establishment to set up volleyball grants.

This grant is given yearly to 6 youthful volleyball players who are confronting monetary challenges.

During the incredible east Japan Earthquake of 2011, Kim gave 10 million won to ensure that the impacted regions could recuperate soon.

In 2019, Kim worked with Under Armor Korea to give active apparel, shoes, and pack to volleyball players in Daejeon Wonmyeong School. She also gave the relief cash to school volleyball crews after the Asian qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics.

Similarly, during the Covid pandemic, Kim gave 50 million South Korean won to the Hope Bridge National catastrophe relief affiliation.

Social Media

Kim is a pretty celebrity worldwide, especially in Korea, and she is active on her social media handles.

She has a famous youtube channel called Bread Unnie, which is enthusiastically followed by numerous Korean fans.

Regardless of being opened simply in 2019, the channel has assembled a ton of ubiquity among Korean fans.

If you are a fan of Kim, follow her on social media to see her posts, pictures, and videos.

FAQs

How many languages does Kim Yeon Koung Know?

Kim knows various languages other than her local Korean; nonetheless, she isn’t excellent at them. However, Kim has lived in Japan and Turkey for a short period, so she knew a little bit of Japanese and Turkish also, and she has been learning the Chinese language recently.

Sanjib Sah
Sanjib Sah
Sanjib Sah is an engineer and content writer passionate about sports and athletics. With a background in engineering and a love for all things active, Sanjib brings a unique perspective to the world of sports writing. Whether he is covering the latest trends in sports technology or sharing tips on improving your game, Sanjib's words are always rooted in a deep appreciation for players' hard work and dedication everywhere. In his free time, you can find him hitting the courts or hitting the trails, always looking for new ways to challenge himself and improve his skills.

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