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| Full name | South Korea national esports team |
|---|---|
| Nicknames | Team Korea |
| Sport | Esports |
| National association | Korea e-Sports Association |
The South Korea national esports team represents the South Korea in international esports tournaments. It is organized under the Korea e-Sports Association. [1]
South Korea has been known for its significant role in esports. The country has been hosting amateur esports tournaments as early as the late 1990s. In 1999, Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) would be established. South Korea would host the first World Cyber Games. [2]
The KeSPA would become a semi-member of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) at a undetermined date until August 2017, when it failed to meet tighter membership standards introduced in December 2015. [3]
At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, esports would be held as a demonstration event. [2] South Korea looked to join the event but their non-membership with the KSOC at the time became an obstacle. [4] KeSPA was able to regain semi-membership after Daejeon recognized the organization as a sporting affiliate. They were able to send a delegation to the games. [3]
Esports would become a regular event at the 2022 Asian Games which was held in Huangzhou. South Korea sent an esports delegation once again. Now that esports is an official medal event, this also meant that Korean players would get exemption from military service if they clinch a gold medal at the games. [5] [6]
The South Korean esports team has fielded teams and/or players for the following titles.
| South Korea national esports team – 2022 Asian Games roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Host/Year | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  | Total | |
 2022 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Total | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams.
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.
South Korea has traditional sports of its own, as well as sports from different cultures and countries.
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.
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.
The 2022 Asian Games, officially the 19th Asian Games and also known as Hangzhou 2022, was a continental multi-sport event which was held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The games marked the 110th anniversary since the creation of the first continental event, starting with the 1913 Far Eastern Championship Games.
Lee Sang-hyeok, better known as Faker, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player for T1. He gained prominence after joining SK Telecom T1 in 2013, where he has since played as the team's mid-laner. Throughout his career, he has secured a record of 10 League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) titles, two Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) titles, and a record four World Championship titles. Faker is widely regarded as the greatest League of Legends player in history and has drawn comparison analogizing him to basketball player, Michael Jordan for his esports success.
The KeSPA Cup (Korean: 케스파컵) is an annual esports event organized by the Korean eSports Association. As of the 2021 edition, the tournament is organized for League of Legends. Until 2016, the tournament was also organized for StarCraft II.
League of Legends esports is the professional competition of the multiplayer online battle arena video game League of Legends. It is developed and published by Riot Games and was first released in 2009.
Various video game esports competitions were played at the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games as a demonstration sport. Medals won in this sport were not included in the official overall medal tally.
Vietnam competed at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia from 18 August to 2 September 2018. The country surpassed its target of winning 3 gold medals at the Games by concluding the competition with 5 gold medals, 15 silver medals, and 19 bronze medals, ranking 16th out of 46 participating members of the Olympic Council of Asia.
Malaysia participated in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia from 18 August to 2 September 2018. At the last edition in Incheon, the country placed 14 in the medals tally, with 5 gold medals from squash, sailing, and karate. In 2018 edition, Malaysia was represented by 447 athletes and 140 officials at the Games. Abdul Azim Mohamad Zabidi, the Appeals Committee chairman of the Olympic Council of Malaysia was the chief of the delegation.
Professional StarCraft II competition features professional gamers competing in Blizzard Entertainment's real-time strategy game StarCraft II. Professional play began following the game's initial release in 2010, as the game was the sequel to StarCraft, considered one of the first esports and the foundation of South Korea's interest and success in competitive gaming. Between 2016 and 2019, competition was centered around the Global StarCraft II League in Korea and the World Championship Series Circuit everywhere else, with all Blizzard-sanctioned events being under the StarCraft II World Championship Series (WCS) banner. Since 2020, Blizzard changed the format of WCS by entering into a three-year partnership with esports organizers ESL and DreamHack.
Dplus KIA (DK), formerly known as DWG KIA and DAMWON Gaming, is a South Korean professional esports organization. Its League of Legends team competes in the LCK, the top-level league for the game in South Korea.
Esports at the 2022 Asian Games were held at the China Hangzhou Esports Center in Hangzhou, China from 24 September to 2 October 2023.
The Philippines national esports team represents the Philippines in international esports tournaments. It is organized under the Philippine Esports Organization.
The Philippines competed at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China from 23 September to 8 October 2023. Originally scheduled to take place in 2022, the Games were postponed and rescheduled to 2023, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lee Min-hyeong, better known as Gumayusi, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player for T1. As a member of T1, he won the 2023 League of Legends World Championship.
Jung Ji-hoon, better known as Chovy, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player for Gen.G. Throughout his career, he has won four League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) titles and one KeSPA Cup title.
Seo Jin-hyeok, better known as Kanavi, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player for JD Gaming of the League of Legends Pro League (LPL). Throughout his career, he has won four LPL titles and one Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) title. He also represented the South Korean national team at the 2022 Asian Games, earning a gold medal.
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