Kim Yeon-koung gets star-studded send-off three years after quitting international volleyball

The KYK Invitational 2024, a 2-game series commemorating Korean volleyball legend Kim Yeon-koung’s retirement from the Korean national team 3 years ago and pitting the V League All-Star squad against Team World, starts at Jamsil Arena Saturday

Korea's Kim Yeon-koung celebrates during a bronze medal game of the Tokyo Olympics against Serbia at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on Aug. 8, 2021. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The KYK Invitational 2024, a two-game series commemorating Korean volleyball legend Kim Yeon-koung’s retirement from the Korean women’s national team three years ago and pitting the V League All-Star squad against Team World, starts at Jamsil Arena in southern Seoul on Saturday.

The series will begin with a commemorative game on Saturday, followed by an All-Star contest the next day.

Exactly why the so-called retirement game is being held in June 2024 is unclear, considering that Kim retired from national duty nearly three years ago in 2021 and is still active (and very unretired) in the women's V League.

Kim, who still plays for Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders at 36, had a remarkable national team career, in addition to her ongoing club career.

She not only led Korea to the Olympic semifinals twice in 2012 and 2021, but won three consecutive medals at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Asian Games — winning a silver at the 2010 Asiad, gold at the 2014 tournament and bronze at the last event.

Kim started her career at the Pink Spiders in 2005 and went on to play in Japan, Turkey and China. She rejoined the Incheon side in 2020, before returning to Shanghai Bright Ubest Women's Volleyball Club the following year.

She signed with the Pink Spiders again in 2022 and has played for the club since. During her stints with the Incheon side, she has won the V League four times and the championship three times.

Saturday's game will see Team Korea take on Team Daehanminguk (also Team Korea, this time in Korean). Each side consists of 12 V League players.

Kim Yeon-koung will play for Daehanminguk, led by head coach Kim Hyung-sil. The honoree will be joined by outside hitter Park Eun-seo and middle blocker Ha Hye-jin from the Gwangju Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers, outside hitter Yoo Seo-yeun from GS Caltex Seoul Kixx, middle blocker Kim Su-ji and libero Do Su-bean from the Pink Spiders, former player Han Song-yi, opposite spiker Hwang Yeon-joo of Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate, middle blocker Kim Se-bean, setter Lee Yun-jung and libero Yim Myung-ok from Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass and setter Kim Ha-kyung from the Hwaseong IBK Altos.

The Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders' Kim Yeon-koung, left, and Kim Su-ji celebrate during a V League game against the Gwangju Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers at Pepper Stadium in Gwangju on Jan. 7. [YONHAP]

Over in Team Korea, Kim Ju-hyang and Kwon Min-ji from the Kixx, Yuk Seo-young from the Altos and Ko Ui-jeong from Hi-Pass join the outside hitter lineup. Three middle blockers Yang Hyo-jin from Hillstate, Bae Yoo-na from Hi-Pass and Lim Hye-rim from the Pink Spiders are in the squad alongside opposite spiker Kim Hee-jin, setters Lee Ko-eun and Park Hye-jin from the Pink Spiders and libero Chae Seon-ah from the Peppers. Former player Kim Hae-ran completes the team, led by head coach Lee Jung-chul.

Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate's Yang Hyo-jin celebrates during a V League game against the Hwaseong IBK Altos at Suwon Gymnasium in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Feb. 23. [YONHAP]

The two-game series will run in a special format. The first team to score 70 points over three sets wins the game, as opposed to the typical format in which a team must score 25 points with a two-point difference in a set to win the best-of-five set contest.

The first set of the series will end once a team has scored 25 points, and the second set will end after a team has registered 50 cumulative points. The team that records 70 cumulative points by the third set will win the entire game.

Once Saturday's game is over, a retirement ceremony of sorts for Kim Yeon-koung will immediately take place — although again, she has not actually fully retired yet — followed by a photo session with fans.

Saturday's event will also see Korean singers Tei and Gyu Bin perform, while Sunday's contest will have K-pop girl group Nmixx.

Kim Yeon-koung will be back in action for Sunday's game alongside seven other players from Saturday's contest — Kim Su-ji, Bae, Lee Yun-jung, Yim, Kim Hee-jin, Lee Ko-eun and Park Hye-jin.

Outside hitter Park Hye-min, middle blocker Park Eun-jin, libero Noh Ran and setter Yeum Hye-seon from the Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks complete the rest of the All-Star V League squad led by former Korean women’s national team head coach Cesar Hernandez.

The Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks' Park Hye-min, right, attacks during a V League game against the Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on Dec. 24, 2023. [YONHAP]

Ten players across the globe join Team World led by Pink Spiders head coach Marcello Abbondanza: Natalia Pereira and Sheilla Castro from Brazil, Maret Grothues from the Netherlands, Helene Rousseaux from Belgium, Kotoe Inoue and Miyu Nagaoka from Japan, Yamila Nizetich from Argentina, Pleumjit Thinkaow from Thailand and Anna Lazareva and Nataliya Goncharova from Russia.

Sheilla Castro from Brazil [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Fans can watch Saturday's commemoration game on KBS N Sports and Sunday's All-Star game on KBS.

Korean national team regular picks like Kang So-hwi and Jeong Ji-yun are not on the roster for either game, as they still have national duty for the ongoing 2024 Volleyball Nations League (VNL).

The VNL is an annual international tournament in which 16 countries compete. Korea finished the second week of the tournament on June 2. The third week is set to kick off in Japan next week, with Korea facing Japan on June 12.

Korea have won just one in eight VNL games this year, which is still a better result than the past two years during which Korea lost all 24 games.

Since Kim’s retirement from national duty, Korea has struggled on the international stage, recording a 30-game losing streak in the VNL in the span of three years and failing to medal at last year's Hangzhou Asian Games, where they finished in fifth place.

Even after retirement from the national team, Kim has remained a core part of the Pink Spiders, leading her side to the 2022-23 V League title and runner-up finish at the 2022-23 V League Championship.

She signed a one-year extension deal with the Pink Spiders for the 2023-24 season in order to sweep both titles, but she failed to achieve either feat despite another notable performance during the season, prompting her to lengthen her stay for another year.

Kim was appointed as the 2023-24 campaign MVPafter recording 775 points as the sixth top scorer of the season. She was the league's top Korean scorer and had the second-highest attack success rate, at 44.98 percent.

She has yet to reveal whether she will retire from the sport after the upcoming 2024-25 season that begins in October.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]