About Mir Kim
Mir Kim is a South Korean competitive yoyo player and three-time 1A World Champion (2023, 2024, 2025). Born around 2007–2008, he began throwing in 2015 when his father bought him his first yo-yo. He won the Korea National Yo-Yo Contest in 2019, took back-to-back Online World Championship titles in 2021 and 2022, then won the first in-person World Yo-Yo Contest after the COVID-19 hiatus at the 2023 WYYC in Osaka — setting a record freestyle score of 99.7 out of 100, the highest ever recorded in 1A competition.
He defended the title in Cleveland in 2024 and won a third consecutive title in Prague in 2025, becoming only the second player in history to win the 1A division more than twice (after Japan’s Hiroyuki Suzuki). Kim competes on the YoYoFactory team alongside his sister, five-time Women’s World Champion Miri Kim, with whom he co-designed the Miracle signature throw line. He also holds a signature string with South Korean maker Sochi Company. His freestyles are characterized by extreme technical density executed cleanly — in competition he is known for performing the hardest tricks in the field with minimal deductions.
In His Own Words
Interview by BobParty, 2024
What got you into throwing?
Back in 2015, my father first bought me a yo-yo. It was a Modified shaped yo-yo for beginners. I soon began to like it and became totally absorbed in landing tricks and feeling the sense of accomplishment. That’s how I started yo-yoing.
What is your goal in 2025?
My goal is to do my best for World Yo-Yo Contest so that I will be satisfied with my performance. As for outside yo-yoing, I’d like to complete some short stories and novellas.
If you could only have one yo-yo for the rest of your life what would it be?
My answer is the Miracle 2025, my signature yo-yo. It is the one that is most fit for me.
What trick are you working on currently?
I am making some new tricks inspired by literature. I will read books, and transform what I feel into physical movements.
What’s the trick that gives you the hardest time?
I think Horizontal tricks and Hooks are most difficult. Especially for Hooks, I have to practice over and over again everyday.
What’s your most meaningful throw?
The original Miracle. It’s my first signature yo-yo. I was very surprised by its quality when I first threw it. I owe a lot to that yo-yo.
What’s your worst habit with yo-yos?
Thinking of new tricks when I have to repeat what I have for a contest. I tend to make new tricks everytime when I get bored, and that can have a negative effect on my performance.
What are you into outside of yo-yos?
I really love reading books, especially history and fiction. I like reading works by classic authors, such as Virgil, Homer, Shakespeare, Goethe and so on. As for more modern authors, I like Hemingway and Charles Dickens. Also I like writing fiction and visiting art museums. I am a huge fan of Renaissance paintings and sculptures.
What does yo-yoing mean to you?
It means art. Many think yo-yoing is a mere hobby, but I think it can transcend that sphere. It can be heightened to art. And I want to make people know it as something above toys.
What’s your biggest accomplishment?
Winning the World Yo-Yo Contest three times. The first win, in 2023, was the most fantastic moment — I had been yo-yoing for eight years and it was everything I worked toward.
Advice for new players?
If you aim to win competitions, set records, and be a unique player, a lot of endeavor is necessary. You should sometimes say to yourself, “The fault is not in the stars but in ourselves,” and push on. But, as Eric Hoffer wrote, “it is the stretched soul that makes music.” If there is no conflict within you, there will be no music — no great performance. Through your endeavor, you make an art of yourself.
