E-Sports Regional League, what is the solution to success? Debate hosted by Rep. Kim Seung-soo
May 18, 2025
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As a place to explore the successful settlement and development of KEL, related organizations, gamers, and industry officials, including Kim Seung-soo, chairman of the People's Power Emergency Response Committee, Yoon Jae-ok, chairman of the Korea e-Sports Association, Kim Young-man, director of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's content policy bureau, and Yoo Seung Min, chairman of the Korea Sports Association, attended.
Representative Kim Seung-soo, who hosted the event, said, "(We will establish an e-sports control tower for the systematic and long-term development of e-sports in Korea and develop it into a popular sport loved by the people like professional baseball and professional soccer." he said. In order to find local talent and revitalize local areas, KEL's successful progress, promotion of e-sports regional ties, prevention of career breaks for athletes, and the establishment of a Sangmu team, and the government's efforts centered on the Korean Sports Council and the use of global networking were urged to adopt e-sports as an official event at the Olympics, starting with the Asian Games.
In response, Chairman of the Korean Sports Council Yoo Seung Min said, `Of course, there is great interest in the IOC, and the Olympic e-sports series will begin. Although South Korea is said to be the dominant e-sports country, the reality is that South Korea is somewhat behind in terms of governance as Saudi Arabia, China, Singapore, and the United States move fiercely to take the lead." Then "In order to leap back to the global center, government-level efforts are of course necessary. The sports association will also establish an e-sports working group to discuss it in depth and make efforts, he stressed.
Following the presentation by Kim Philosophical, secretary-general of the Korea e-Sports Association, on the launch and direction of KEL, various debaters, including sports companies, stadium operators, users, and government officials, came forward.
Yoon Seo-ha, head of e-sports team at Nimble Neuron, which develops and serves one of KEL's three official events, Eternal Return, suggested flexibility in IP authority along with cooperation from game companies for the success of the regional league. Han Sang-min, head of the Busan Information Industry Promotion Agency's New Technology Game Team, which operates the Busan E-Sports Stadium, and Park Chang-hyun, head of the Daejeon Information Culture Industry Promotion Agency's E-Sports Promotion Team, which operates the Daejeon E-Sports Stadium, expressed their opinions on ways to revitalize local stadiums, the possibility of operating local teams, discovering regional-specific content, and strengthening the sense of belonging of local fans.
Lee Chul-woo, president of the Korea Game Users Association, made specific suggestions for a close-knit league, such as developing content and products specialized in local stadiums as a gamer and fan living in the province, and Choi Jae-hwan, head of the game content industry division at the Ministry of Culture, promised to make efforts to build a control tower and support active policies.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
