Seoul - In the gloom of South Korea's economic problems, a flash of hope and joy has come from the skating queen Kim Yu-Na, 19, who unseated the reigning champion, Mao Asada of Japan, and won the Four Continents figure stating championship in Vancouver last Friday.

Yu-Na owes her stardom to her graceful presence and calm confidence, which did not leave her even when she fell down during her performance of a triple loop jump.

She quickly rose from the ice and went on to display her grace and confidence in a masterly performance that charmed the audience.

Her rise from the fall has come to represent just the kind of courage under adversity many South Koreans are looking for when faced with the harsh reality of the economic slowdown.

"I got courage when I saw her. She fell but she kept dancing as if she had not fallen at all," said Kim Suk-Chull, 31, a banker in Seoul.

Another reason South Koreans hold Yu-Na in awe is that her success kindles a hope for her country's move into the more artistic sports. Previously South Koreans were only expected to do well in more physically demanding sports such as boxing, archery or ping-pong in the Olympics.

In the economic take-off period of 1970s, South Koreans were wowed by the fighting spirt of boxing champs. When a poor boxer, Hong Soo-Wan, won the country's first world championship in 1974, the whole country was in a festive mood.

During the economic crisis of 1998, South Koreans were comforted by the rise of new golfing star Park Se-ri. When the Se-ri won the LPGA championship in Los Angeles in 1998, South Koreans shared in the excitement of her victory.

Today, South Koreans hold up Yu-Na as proof that their countrymen are as artistically sophisticated as any other nationality to vie for top honours in the artful sports like skating and dancing.

"For the first time in modern history, South Korean youth are able to be physically and artfully conditioned to compete on the same footing with their Western peers in the artistic sports like gymnastics or skating," Kim Jin said in an editorial in the Joong-Ang newspaper.

Yu-Na has, however, become a source of stress for some South Korean teenagers. Many of their mothers are asking them, "Why can't you be more like Yu-Na?"

Many South Korean teenagers were astounded when Yu-Na spoke English fluently for foreign reporters at a press conference after her winning performance.

Yu-Na also stands to join the ranks of sports millionaires. Many advertisers are reportedly standing in line to court her to appear in their ads.

"Yu-Na is a skating star," said Jeon Byong-Wook, pastor of a mega-church in a sermon in Seoul for thousands of university students. "Yu-Na is also a charming and lovely woman who has a caring heart." (dpa)