Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition taken place online. The advent of StarCraft from Blizzard Entertainment in 1998 created an unprecedented online game fever in South Korea and it sparked Koreans to encompass many kinds of online games into esports. Not surprisingly, esports listed its name as one of the 37 sports to be played at the 2022 Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China from 23 September to 8 October this year. 

South Korea’s esports market was estimated around 140 billion won ($106 million USD) as of 2019. Set sail in October 2021, the Korea Esports Promotion Association aims to spread esports as one of healthy leisure activities of people in daily lives. Related researches, finding and promoting esports as well as publishing teaching manuals are carried out by teams of experts in the association through its affiliated societies and organizations. From professional gamers to amateur players, the association finds and expands its scope from traditional to latest metaverse platforms in a way to effectively spread the culture.

The association president Kiju Moon has made his strong presence in cultural events long before he took the steering wheel of the association. He has proactively involved himself in many esports events, is serving as the head of the Evergreen Digilog World Movie Festival, and is making donations on a regular basis. 

“All kinds of offline sports can be esports as long as they are played online. They can be football, baseball, basketball, you name it. Children playing the sports and games whether offline or online can be beneficial in finding and growing their talents, personalities and potentials. It can also help them socialize and build teamwork. What is more? Esports can be good leisure activities for disabled to spend time as esports do not require physical maneuver. In addition, it is a good way of elderlies spending leisure time over a game or two with friends and fellows. Many research papers tell us that using brain constantly can prevent Alzheimer’s and playing sudoku, quiz and Go online, for example, can contribute to this. The aim of the association is to spread these benefits of esports to people in general and make it a culture.” says Moon.

▲ Korea Esports Promotion Association / President Kiju Moon

He points out that the reason eports look bad especially by school parents is because the violence some games contain and addiction to gambling. 

“We are very well aware of this and we are working on this. We are running preventive programs so that players do not become vulnerable to addiction to a certain game. We are also working on opening esports-related courses at universities in a way to provide more systematic approach and promotion.” says Moon.

The association singled out Gwangmyeong as to be the hub of esports in the nation as the city keeps such a good vibe for sports while the location also provides a great accessibility in and around Seoul and the capital regions where population is dense. In line with it, the association is running certified instructor’s courses in grade 1 and 2 who will lead the promotion of esports in more systematic way. 

“It is regretful that the government support for esports is not as excellent as world class Korean gamers. Many countries overseas are admiring Korean gamers who are sweeping the top prizes wherever the games take place in the world. Online game developers are talking about ‘Korean level’ when developing a game because they are way too good. On the contrary, regulation on games seems to be toughened in South Korea which is really sad and discouraging. Expecting an esports department in this respect is out of question. The only financial support comes from the Korea Creative Content Agency that is around 3 billion won ($2.3 million USD) which is better than nothing though. But it is almost nothing considering the market worth $106 million USD in the domestic market alone.” regrets Moon.

Lack of support can lead to excellent players and developers leaving the homeland to work for the companies that recognize and value their skills and performances. In order to prevent this, Moon points out the need of establishing Esports Promotion Agency. 

“The plant never grows if we water every now and then. The plant will grow if we water on time and on a regular basis. This is the reason the Korea Esports Promotion Association is working hard day and night. If others are reluctant to water the plant, we will water it on time and on a regular basis to make South Korea as the hub of esports.” says Moon.  <PowerKorea>