Kim Hak-kyun (born March 12, 1996) is a South Korean curler from

Uiseong Uiseong County (''Uiseong-gun'') is a county in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, South Korea. Located near the center of the province, it is bounded by Andong on the north, Cheongsong on the east, Gunwi County on the south, and Sangju and Yecheon on t ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. He currently plays

second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

on Team

Kim Soo-hyuk Kim Soo-hyuk (born May 5, 1984) is a Korean curler from Gyeongi-do. He currently skips the Gyeongbuk Athletic Association curling team out of Uiseong. Career At just 17 years old, Kim was a member of the Korean team at the 2001 Pacific Curling ...

. Kim is a two-time Pacific-Asia champion, winning the title in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

as a member of the Korean team.

Career

Kim joined the

Kim Chang-min Kim Chang-min (born September 4, 1985 in Uiseong County) is a South Korean curler. Kim was the skip of the South Korean men's team at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Career Juniors Kim's curling career began quickly, with a trip to the 1998 Pacific ...

rink at second for the 2019–20 season. The team also included twin brothers

Lee Ki-jeong Lee Ki-jeong (born 18 July 1995) is a South Korean curler. He competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games ( ...

and

Lee Ki-bok Lee Ki-bok (born 18 July 1995) is a South Korean curler. He competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics as the lead on the South Korean men's team skipped by Kim Chang-min Kim Chang-min (born September 4, 1985 in Uiseong County) is a South Korean ...

playing third and lead respectively. The team did well in their first event together, winning the

2019 Korean Curling Championships The 2019 Korean Curling Championships (branded as the 2019 KB Financial Group, KB Financial Korean Curling Championships), Korea's national curling championships, were held from July 6 to 11 at the Gangneung Gymnasium, Gangneung Curling Centre in ...

by going a perfect 8–0 through the tournament. This qualified them as the Korean National Team for that season, meaning they would represent Korea at both the

Pacific-Asia Curling Championships The Pacific-Asia Curling Championships (formerly the Pacific Curling Championships) are an annual curling tournament, held every year in November or December. The top team receives a berth to the World Curling Championships, while the second-place ...

and the

World Men's Curling Championship The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and mixed doubles championships, as well as men's ...

. In tour events, the team was fairly successful as well. They won the 2019 China Open in December 2019, finished runner-up at the Cameron's Brewing Oakville Fall Classic and made the semifinals at both the

Medicine Hat Charity Classic The Medicine Hat Charity Classic is an annual bonspiel on the men's and women's World Curling Tour. It is held every October at the Medicine Hat Curling Club in Medicine Hat, Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territor ...

and the Changan Ford International Curling Elite. The team was also set to represent South Korea at the

2020 World Men's Curling Championship The 2020 World Men's Curling Championship (branded as the 2020 LGT World Men's Curling Championship for sponsorship reasons) was scheduled to be held from March 28 to April 5 at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland. On March 14, 2020, the World ...

before the event got cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Team Kim played in no tour events during the abbreviated 2020–21 season as there were no events held in South Korea or Asia. They did, however, compete in the

2020 Korean Curling Championships The 2020 Korean Curling Championships (branded as the 2020 KB Financial Korean Curling Championships), Korea's national curling championships, were held from November 19 to 24 at the Gangneung Curling Centre in Gangneung, South Korea. The winnin ...

, held November 19 to 24 in

Gangneung Gangneung () is a municipal city in the province of Gangwon-do, on the east coast of South Korea. It has a population of 213,658 (as of 2017).Gangneung City (2003)Population & Households. Retrieved January 14, 2006. Gangneung is the economic ...

. The team topped the round robin with a 5–1 record and defeated Jeong Yeong-seok in the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game to advance to the championship final where they once again faced Team Jeong. They could not secure a second national championship, however, dropping the game 12–10 in an extra end. After the season, Kim and skip Kim Chang-min left their team and formed a new team under the Gyeongbuk Athletic Association with

and Jeon Jae-ik. Kim would play lead on the team, with Jeon at second, Chang-min at third and Soo-hyuk skipping. Chang-min would later become the skip of the team. The new team competed in their

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

in Summer 2021. The championship was held in three rounds, as it also determined the team that would go on the represent South Korea at the Olympic Qualification Event in attempts to qualify for the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

. Through the championship, Team Kim posted an impressive 11–2 record en route to winning both the first and second rounds. They secured the national title with a 6–5 victory over former teammate Lee Ki-jeong in the second round final.

Personal life

Kim is a full-time curler.

Teams

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Hak-gyun 1996 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) South Korean male curlers People from Uiseong County Sportspeople from North Gyeongsang Province 21st-century South Korean people