‘eSports’, which determines victory or defeat with online game skills, has been incorporated into the Hangzhou Asian Games as an official event. Korea will dispatch national teams to 4 of the 7 events, including ‘League of Legends (LoL)’, ‘FIFA Online 4’, ‘Street Fighter V’ and ‘PUBG Mobile’. Among them, it is coach Kim Jeong-gyun who leads the LoL national team. He has won 10 championships in the domestic LoL professional league and 3 championships in the international tournament called the ‘eSports World Cup’, the ‘LoL World Championship (Roll Cup)’, and is considered a leader with the best career ever. In an interview held at the headquarters of the Kukmin Ilbo on the 3rd, coach Kim revealed his determination to participate in the Asian Games.
- After leaving the professional team at the end of last year, I spent half a year as a savage.
“I spent time with my family. The two-year-old feels more lovable than before. Even during breaks, I watched pro leagues, and spent the rest of my time playing games, which is my field of guidance. Looking at the games of professional teams through the eyes of a third party, I thought, ‘If we fix this part, we can do better… ‘ I thought. I think I need to go to a place where the internet doesn’t explode in order to completely put everything down and rest.”
-Recently, he received a huge offer from a Chinese pro team, but he turned it down after much thought.
“The Chinese team offered such unconventional conditions that everyone around me recommended going to China. The Korea e-Sports Association also accepted the concurrent appointment. However, because of the sense of mission of the national team, after careful consideration, he conveyed his intention of refusal. In a word, I wanted to become a cool person. Right now, as the coach of the national team, I am only looking at the gold medal in the Asian Games. Even if I regret it later, I made a choice that I do not regret right now. I want to properly express my gratitude to the teams who offered me through this interview.”
- Last year, he expressed his intention to resign once. Why did he return to the national team coach?
“I took the baton with a sense of mission. He thinks I have the best career among esports leaders. He accepted the association’s offer of reappointment or reappointment not because he wanted additional honors, but because of a sense of mission that he wanted to help the country shine by achieving good results in the Asian Games.”
-As you have won all competitions as a professional, the national team feels like the end of your career.
“It is a caution that there is no end to the career of a professional sports leader. For example, even if I achieve good results in the Asian Games this year, if I join a professional team next year and miss out on winning a small cup competition, I will immediately face criticism and be asked to prove my abilities. Those criticisms and demands are also the legitimate rights of the fans.”
-China, which is also the host country, is considered the biggest enemy of this tournament 토스카지노.
“In 2020, I also spent a year as a leader in the Chinese professional team ‘Vichy Gaming’. At that time, I was deeply impressed by the aggressiveness of the Chinese teams. Unlike Korean teams, who calmly and elaborately assemble their games, Chinese teams always pursue aggressive and aggressive play, whether in practice or actual play. It is very difficult to perform the same play in practice as it is in practice, but the Chinese teams do it relatively well.”
-It has been 10 years since you became an e-sports leader. wishes so far.
“Everything aside, I still really enjoy the game League of Legends and enjoy the learning process. The faces of the players, front-line members, and fans who cheered for me come to mind a lot. It was a rough and arduous 10 years, but thanks to that, it was also a happy and happy time. I like the word ‘learn’. After 10 years as an esports coach, I still have a lot to learn about the game and the leadership role. Have new experiences often. In the future, I will never be conceited and work with the mindset that I will learn a lot from a low position. I want to continue to prove to my fans how capable I am.”
-Have you thought about your life after finishing your leadership career?
“In the future, I want to work as a mentor to help motivate students or newcomers to society. I want to let them know that if you work hard, you can achieve your goals. I’ve been in an esports professional league with selected talent for a long time, but there aren’t as many geniuses as I thought. I want to let them know that even if they are not geniuses, if they do not give up and work hard, opportunities will come ‘multiple times’. As we have done for the past 10 years, we will continue to do our best in our mission to make our fans smile.”