Inside Korea's esports training camp, where gamers get Olympic-style care
BUSAN — When the elevator doors opened at Busan e-sports Arena in central Seomyeon on Sept. 5, a black partition blocked the view. Although normally open to the public, the venue was closed to outsiders that day, converted into an exclusive training camp reserved for the national esports team. With national team insignia and cheering slogans filling the interior walls, the facility resembled the…
Busan — As the elevator doors swung open at Busan e-sports Arena in the heart of Seomyeon, a stark black partition separated onlookers from the inner sanctum. Nevertheless, on September 5, the venue had transformed into an exclusive training camp, exclusively for the national esports squad. Adorned with national team logos and motivational banners, the interior bore a striking resemblance to Korea’s top Olympic training ground, the Jincheon National Training Center.
The national esports team, set to compete in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, was making final preparations at this state-of-the-art facility.
The roster, which includes League of Legends (LoL) national team player Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, will join the Busan camp following completion of their domestic seasons. The Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) disclosed on Monday that the LoL team underwent their domestic schedules and immediately headed to Busan to commence their intensive bootcamp and scrims.
The squad will face warm-up matches against Thailand and Vietnam this weekend, further fine-tuning their skills for the upcoming competition. Guided by head coach Kang Dong-hoon, a former head coach of KT Rolster, the team consists of numerous talented players, each contributing to the collective effort to excel on the global stage.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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