Yuna Kim Takes On Ballerina Challenge Through Strategic Collaboration With Google [Enter, WHY]

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According to The Financial News, figure skating queen Yuna Kim is teaming up with Dolphiners Films director Shin Wooseok to take on the challenge of becoming a ballerina.
On the 6th, Kakao Entertainment announced that it will release the Google campaign "Our Queen is back," directed by Shin Wooseok. The project brings together figure skating queen Yuna Kim and ballet legend Kang Sue-jin, and will be unveiled today (6th) on the YouTube channel of Google Korea.
The video captures a performance in which Yuna Kim reinterprets her legendary short program "Danse macabre" through ballet choreography. In addition to the main film of the ballet performance, the campaign will feature a variety of content, including a making-of documentary and BTS (Behind The Scenes) footage, as well as five short-form videos that show episodes before and after Yuna Kim’s ballet performance.
The project "Our Queen is back" is drawing particular attention as a new work from director Shin Wooseok. Late last year, he also collaborated with Google on "The Christmas Song," an episode of his original series "Shin Woo-seok’s Urban Fairy Tale," which he planned and produced himself. That work, starring Byeon Woo-seok, Karina and Jang Won-young, earned praise for its stylish direction and visuals. Shin previously directed NewJeans’ "ETA" music video, created in partnership with an Apple iPhone campaign.
This latest project was likewise produced through a strategic collaboration with Google. In the process of reimagining "Danse macabre" as a ballet piece, the team used Google Gemini, with ballerina Kang Sue-jin reviewing and participating throughout. Experts in choreography, stage design and costume design also drew on Google Gemini for choreographic structure and blocking, as well as the design of the set and ballet costumes.
Why did Google join this project? Industry observers see it as a strategy to let audiences experience artificial intelligence (AI) technology through emotionally resonant content. By embedding a real creative process using Google Gemini into the Yuna Kim project, Google appears to be positioning AI not just as a technology, but as a "creative partner." With familiar, iconic figures from each field—Yuna Kim, Kang Sue-jin and Shin Wooseok—the project serves as a kind of showcase demonstrating how AI is actually used in the creative process.
jashin@fnnews.com Shin Jin-ah Reporter