OGN is a South Korean pay television channel that specialized in broadcasting video game-related content and esports matches, particularly StarCraft, Starcraft II, League of Legends, and Overwatch. OGN ran high level professional tournaments for 20 years; its premier competition included the Ongamenet Starleague (OSL), Proleague, League of Legends Champions Korea, and Overwatch APEX. It was previously a subsidiary of On-Media, the parent company of several other cable channels. After a corporate merger in 2010, it became a part of CJ ENM E&M Division. Most recently, League of Legends statistics website, OP.GG, which also sponsored LCK since 2022, has acquired OGN from CJ ENM following the shutdown of the linear TV network during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lim Yo-hwan, known online as SlayerS_'BoxeR', is a former professional player of the real-time strategy computer game StarCraft. He is often referred to as The Terran Emperor, or simply The Emperor, and is widely considered to be one of the most successful players of the genre as well as a pop culture icon.
The Starleague, or the Ongamenet Starleague (OSL), was a professional South Korean StarCraft individual league run by Ongamenet. It first ran StarCraft: Brood War competitions but transitioned to StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty after that game's release. The Starleague was broadcast on Korean cable television. The league folded after the 2012 season.
The real time strategy (RTS) computer game StarCraft had an active professional competition circuit, particularly in South Korea. The two major game channels in South Korea, Ongamenet and MBCGame, each ran a Starleague, viewed by millions of fans.
Park Sung-joon (Korean: 박성준) is a professional player of the real-time strategy game StarCraft. He is known by his pseudonym July, a shortened version of JulyZerg. Park Sung-joon is also known as the "God of War" or "Tushin. Park used to play for STX SouL.
Lee Yun-yeol (이윤열), better known as NaDa, is a South Korean entrepreneur, video game designer and former professional gamer who competitively played StarCraft: Brood War and StarCraft II. He is known for being one of the most accomplished Brood War players of all time with a total of six major title victories, including three KPGA tours in a row in 2002 and subsequently winning three OnGameNet StarLeagues over the following years, earning him the nickname, "Genius Terran". He achieved the highest KeSPA score of any player before it was re-scaled, and holds the record for longest stay in KeSPA's top 30 at 87 months, beginning in March 2002 and ending in May 2009. He has played for several top-ranking teams, including Pantech EX, Toona S.G., KT_MagicNs, Ideal Space and WeMade FOX. After his transition to StarCraft II in 2010, he joined the Korean team of Old Generations. In February 2012, he joined the American multi-gaming team, compLexity gaming.
Lee Jae-dong, who plays simply under the name Jaedong, is a South Korean professional StarCraft: Brood War player and former StarCraft II player, playing most recently for team Evil Geniuses prior to his StarCraft II retirement. After retiring from StarCraft II, Jaedong returned to playing SC:BW. Announced as a full-time streamer on 12 November 2016, he made his return to the tournament scene a week later during the 2016 KT GiGA Legends Match lll. Using the Zerg race in both games, Lee is considered one of the most successful StarCraft players of all time, having won five OnGameNet Starleague (OSL) and MBCGame StarCraft League (MSL) tournaments, and earning over $600,000 in tournament prize money. His other nicknames include The Tyrant and The Legend Killer.
T1 is a South Korean esports organization operated by T1 Entertainment & Sports, a joint venture between SK Telecom and Comcast Spectacor. The team that would become SKT T1 was originally founded in 2002 by StarCraft player Lim "BoxeR" Yo-hwan under the name Team Orion, which was later renamed to 4 Union in December 2003. In April 2004, South Korean wireless carrier SK Telecom began sponsoring the team, officially creating the team SK Telecom T1.
Lee Young-ho is a South Korean StarCraft: Brood War and StarCraft II player who played Terran for the Korean pro-gaming team KT Rolster under the alias By.FlaSh or simply Flash. He made his debut as a StarCraft: Brood War player in 2007 and retired on December 19, 2015. Lee began playing StarCraft II competitively in 2011, until his retirement in December 2015. He subsequently returned to playing Starcraft: Brood War, and started his personal broadcast in February 2016 on the AfreecaTV personal broadcasting platform. Since returning to Brood War, Lee has won first place in Seasons 2, 3, 4, and 8 of the Afreeca Starleague. As of 2020, he is still broadcasting personal broadcasts. He is, along with BoxeR, NaDa, Iloveoov, and SAviOr, regarded as the fifth, final, and greatest of the Bonjwas, a title for players who dominated the Korean Brood War scene over long periods of time. He is considered to be the greatest StarCraft: Brood War player of all-time.
Jung Myung-hoon, known as By.Fantasy or Fantasy, is a South Korean League of Legends head coach for SANDBOX Challengers of the LCK Challengers League. Formerly a StarCraft and StarCraft2 player, he is one of 3 Terrans to be under the wing of Choi "iloveoov" Yeon-sung.
The Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) is a South Korean body established to manage esports in South Korea. It is a member of the Korean Olympic Committee and the International e-Sports Federation. As of June 2012, it was the managing body for 25 e-sports in the country, including Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void, League of Legends, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. KeSPA also hosts the KeSPA Cup, a yearly tournament event for some of their games.
Samsung Galaxy was a professional esports works team of the South Korean corporation Samsung Electronics. During its existence it had teams competing in League of Legends, StarCraft and StarCraft II.
OGN Entus was a South Korean esports organization. It formerly had teams competing in League of Legends, StarCraft II, Warcraft 3,Clash Royale, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Special Force 2. OGN Entus was established in April 2001 as a StarCraft: Brood War team named ProSuma. In April 2006, the CJ Group chaebol obtained the team's naming rights and it began competing in the StarCraft Proleague as CJ Entus. On May 24, 2012, CJ Entus created a League of Legends team to compete in the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), then known as Ongamenet The Champions league. CJ Entus was renamed OGN Entus on February 1, 2018.
League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) is the primary competition for League of Legends esports in South Korea. Contested by ten teams, the league runs two seasons per year and serves as a direct route to qualification for the annual League of Legends World Championship. The LCK is administered in cooperation between Riot Games and KeSPA.
Hanwha Life Esports (HLE) is a South Korean esports organization based in Seoul, owned by Hanwha Life Insurance. It has teams competing in League of Legends and Kart Rider, with the former competing in the LCK, South Korea's top level professional league for the game.
StarCraft II Proleague, also known as StarCraft Proleague or Proleague for short, was the longest running StarCraft league in the world and the most prestigious team league. Hosted by the Korean eSports Association (KeSPA), the league was played offline in South Korea. Proleague began in 2003 with the game StarCraft: Brood War before switching over to StarCraft II in 2011 and then discontinued in 2016. It was broadcast by SPOTVGames prior to being discontinued.
Jin Air Green Wings is a South Korean e-sports organization with teams competing in StarCraft II and League of Legends. Its parent organization is Korean Air subsidiary Jin Air. The organization was formed in November 2011 as a StarCraft: Brood War team, which combined three disbanding Proleague teams: Hwaesung Oz, WeMade FOX and MBCGame HERO. It was simply known as "The 8th Team" until Jin Air became its title sponsor in July 2013. Jin Air Green Wings is currently one of eight Korean e-Sports Association recognized teams participating in the Proleague.
Chae Gwang-jin, better known as Piglet, is a South Korean former professional League of Legends player, and current coach for T1 Academy. Piglet won the Season 3 World Championship in 2013 with LCK team SK Telecom T1.
Kim Hyuk-kyu, better known as Deft, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player for KT Rolster. He won the 2015 Mid-Season Invitational with Edward Gaming and the 2022 League of Legends World Championship with DRX.
Kim Chan-ho better known as Ssumday, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player. Ssumday began his professional career in Korea on KT Rolster as their toplaner, before moving to North America where he spent a year with Team Dignitas, after which he signed with 100 Thieves in 2018. Ssumday won his first domestic championship in 2021 after eight splits with the team.
