Esports experts discuss the future of esports in Korea

Esports has now become a mainstream cultural activity for the younger generations, a development that was discussed during “The Game Changer,” an online esports conference organized by global esports company Gen.G Esports and Yonsei University last week.　 Discussing the past, present and future of the esports scene in Korea were leading industry figures and experts, including Gen.G Esports Chief Operating Officer Arnold Hur, professor of media studies at Simon Fraser University Jin

April 6, 2021

11 members of SK handball team test positive for coronavirus

Eleven members of the SK Hawks men's handball team have been confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus, a local government said Wednesday. Thirteen players and coaches of the team, based in Cheongju, 150 kilometers south of Seoul, underwent COVID-19 tests Tuesday, after nine people showed signs of fever and cough in the afternoon. Eleven of them tested positive while two tested negative, the city government said. Health authorities are conducting an epidemiological survey to determine the

March 24, 2021

Road to the LCK Spring Playoffs

With one week remaining in the League of Legends Champions Korea Spring regular season, all but one of the six teams advancing to the playoffs starting March 31 have been decided. 2020 LoL World Championship winner DWG KIA continued their dominance in the second round to capture the No. 1 spot in the regular season and are heading directly to the second round of playoffs. The playoff format newly introduced this year places the regular season first and second place teams in the second round

March 23, 2021

Who watches the LCK?

League of Legends as an esport is slowly but surely gaining popularity among various demographics, judging by the demographics of LoL Champions Korea fans. As one of the most popular esports leagues, the LCK is seen by fans around the world, with over half the viewers watching from abroad. According to the game’s maker Riot Games, the average number of viewers for the 2020 LCK summer season was around 166,000, which was up 74 percent from a year prior. The Korea Creative Content Agency

March 9, 2021

S. Korean-born Olympic short track champion applies for Chinese citizenship

Lim Hyo-jun, who won South Korea's first gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in short track speed skating, has applied for Chinese citizenship, a source close to the athlete said Saturday. According to the source, the scandal-ridden skater, facing sexual harassment charges, is going through a special naturalization process after receiving an offer from the Chinese Skating Association. "He'll skate for China at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics," the source said, adding that Lim fel

March 7, 2021

2021 Mid-Season Invitational returns after last year’s cancellation

The Mid-Season Invitational for League of Legends, featuring 12 teams from regions across the world, will be held in Reykjavik, Iceland from May 6 to 23, according to Riot Games on Tuesday. As the second biggest LoL event of the year, behind only the World Championships in the fall, the MSI was canceled last year due to COVID-19. One of the biggest awards for winning the spring split for teams around the world is punching the ticket to MSI. It is one of few opportunities for teams in minor r

March 2, 2021

Franchise system’s impact on the first round of LCK

The first round of the League of Legends Champions Korea Spring Split season came to an end Friday, with the 10 teams all having faced each other, making apparent the advantages and disadvantages of the franchise system. The current standings after the first pairings of the second round are as follows. 1. DWG Kia (9-1) 2. Gen.G (7-3) 3. DRX (7-3) 4. Hanwha Life Esports (6-4) 5. T1 (5-5) 6. KT Rolster (5-5) 7. Afreeca Freecs (3-7) 8. Nongshim RedForce (3-7) 9. Fredit Brion (3-7) 10. Liiv Sandb

Feb. 24, 2021

Volleyball player retires after admitting to bullying allegations

A professional volleyball player has abruptly retired after admitting to assault allegations from his school days, the latest black eye to the sport reeling from a snowballing bullying scandal. Park Sang-ha of the Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Bluefangs announced his retirement through his V-League club Monday evening. The decision came three days after Park's middle school classmate accused the player of beating him up in 1999 in an online post. Park, 34, admitted that he had assaulted

Feb. 23, 2021

[Newsmaker] Pro volleyball league rocked by bullying scandal involving star players

Professional volleyball's growing popularity in South Korea came crashing down over the Lunar New Year long weekend, as the league's star players got embroiled in a scandal over their checkered pasts as bullies. The V-League, run by the Korean Volleyball Federation (KOVO), saw cable TV ratings for some big matches rival or even surpass those of baseball, the nation's No. 1 sport, in recent years. It is now reeling from allegations, since acknowledged by the implicated individuals, that some of

Feb. 15, 2021

LCK generation change, while Faker and Deft hit milestones

As the decade-old League of Legends Champions Korea matures, rookie players are replacing several veteran players this year with the introduction of the franchise system. The LCK teams have shown a preference for new, younger faces -- players with excellent mechanical skills to lead them for multiple years -- rather than experienced veterans who have only a few years left to play as their mechanical skills go downhill with age. Longtime veterans who represented the LCK such as Kuro, Smeb, Gori

Feb. 11, 2021

[Herald Interview] Korean StarCraft 2 legend Trap ready to hunt for gold in 2022 Asian Games

It seemed South Korea’s overwhelming dominance in StarCraft would last forever, until American Protoss player Alex “Neeb” Sunderhaft came out of nowhere and became the champion of the KeSPA Cup in 2016, becoming the first non-Korean in 16 years to win a premier StarCraft tournament on Korean soil. Cho “Trap” Sung-ho, who fell to Neeb in the KeSPA final, became the first Korean pro gamer to concede a trophy to a foreigner on home turf in the history of the StarCr

Feb. 9, 2021

Memorial museum commemorating 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics opens

The memorial museum dedicated to commemorating the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games opened its doors on Sunday, about three years after the opening ceremony of the quadrennial sporting event. The three-story museum was built at the site of the main Olympic Stadium, where opening and closing ceremonies of the Games were staged, in PyeongChang, a resort town located 180 kilometers east of Seoul in Gangwon Province. It houses some 800 items, including a replica of the Olympic torch, commemor

Feb. 7, 2021

Lack of professionalism from LCK teams angers esports fans

From social media account troubles to player misconduct, teams in League of Legends Champions Korea are under fire for their glaring lack of professionalism. The latest trouble involves the Twitter account of 2020 world champions DWG KIA. Fans noticed that DWG’s official Twitter account had liked a post with pornographic content, making the post appear on its news feed around 1 a.m. on Jan. 26. About an hour later, DWG issued an official statement saying its account had been hacked. Lat

Feb. 6, 2021

Badminton's teen sensation An finally wins against Spain’s Marin

BANGKOK (AFP) -- Teenage prodigy An Se-young pushed to victory in a tough game against former world champ Carolina Marin on Friday in badminton's World Tour Finals -- her first win over the Spaniard in Bangkok. The world’s top players have been competing in the Thai capital for three consecutive tournaments in a biosecure “bubble”, culminating in this week‘s World Tour Finals. The young South Korean had lost to reigning Olympic champion Marin during their previous two

Jan. 29, 2021

Korean LoL players who join teams abroad face very different environments

With Korean players enjoying success in the League of Legends World Championships since 2013, teams from all around the world are keen on importing Korean talents to help them enter and win the big tournament. Koreans were the most represented nationality at the world stage every year since 2013, with the exception of 2014 when LMQ, consisting of all Chinese players, played for North America. Two of the five players in the two Chinese teams that won the world championships in 2018 and 2019 wer

Jan. 26, 2021

Can T1 put a break on DWG KIA’s dominance?

All eyes are on the second match of League of Legends Champions Korea on Friday between Damwon Kia and T1 as the two powerhouse teams clash for the title of the strongest in the LCK. T1, undoubtedly the greatest team in LoL history, will face Damwon Kia, the current world champion, in a best-of-three series. The match will be Damwon’s first game of the season. The team showed that they are still one of the strongest teams in the world as they dominated the KeSPA Cup earlier this month,

Jan. 15, 2021

Election campaigns for top S. Korean Olympic job marred by mudslinging

The race for the top position at the national Olympic committee has been marred by mudslinging, accusations and subsequent denials, with the four candidates busy taking shots at one another rather than making concrete pledges to improve sports in the country. Lee Kee-heung is going for a second four-year term as the head of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC). He's up against three opponents: Lee Jong-kul, a five-term legislator and former head of the Korea Basketball Association; Y

Jan. 15, 2021

Korean LoL talent drain to China continues

When South Korea’s Damwon Gaming lifted the Summoner’s Cup in Shanghai in October, fans of League of Legends Champions Korea were filled with joy. For two years, LCK teams had failed to reach the finals, instead looking on as Chinese teams from the LoL Pro League won. As Damwon fulfilled the long-held wish of LCK fans for a win, fans also feared another exodus of Korean players to the LPL. After LCK team Samsung White won the World Championships in 2014, all the starting members of

Jan. 13, 2021

New franchise system heralds changes at LCK

Longtime fans following League of Legends Champions Korea, the 2021 LCK spring season will have many changes with the implementation of the franchise system. For those new to the LCK, it presents a good opportunity to get into LoL esports. With the opening match of the season between Gen.G Esports and KT Rolster set for Wednesday, here’s what you need to know. Ten teams have qualified for the LCK franchise system: Afreeca Freecs, DWG Kia, DRX, Fredit Brion, Gen.G, Hanwha Life Esports, KT

Jan. 12, 2021

Esports one step closer to gaining sports status

When the foundation for esports in Korea was established in the early 2000 with the launch of a StarCraft league, esports remained far from being considered among “real sports.” Pro gamer as an occupation was a new concept, and player wages were not sufficient to make ends meet. In fact, pro gaming was not considered an actual career in the beginning, as players had to pay additional taxes because their earnings were considered unearned income. Perceptions about esports have changed

Jan. 5, 2021