South Korea Announces Star-Studded Roster for 2026 Asian Games

South Korea are gunning for a repeat title at this year’s Asian Games following their victory 2023 victory in Hangzhou for the 19^th Asian Games. KeSPA – the Korean eSports Association – announced earlier today the 6-player League of Legends lineup that will represent South Korea at the upcoming tournament.

The announced roster reads as follows:

• Top: Choi “Zeus” Woo-je
• Jungle: Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu
• Mid: Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok
• Mid: Kim “Zeka” Gun-woo
• Bot: Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyung
• Support: Ryu “Keria” Min-seok

The 20^th Asian Games

Also known as Aichi-Nagoya 2026, the 20^th edition of the Asian Games will be held around the Aichi Prefecture in Japan from September 19^th to October 4^th, 2026. The prefecture capital, Nagoya, has been circled to be the epicenter for the events and celebration.

This marks the 3^rd edition of the Asian Games where League of Legends has made an appearance. It was first added to the Asian Games in 2018 as an official demonstration event. In the 2022 Asian Games, League of Legends made its debut as a full, official medal event.

A Coveted Prize Awaits for a Gold Medal Finish

Notably for male South Korean participants, winning a gold medal in the Asian Games would exempt them from the standard national military duties (frequently referred to as military exemption). Instead, winners would be reclassified into a special reserve category.

There, they can complete 3-4 weeks of basic military training as well as 500 hours of community service as opposed to the standard 18-21 month mandatory conscription in the active military.

For esports athletes such as the South Korean representatives, this represents an opportunity to extend their playing career. Otherwise, they must enlist by the age of 28.

Metric-Based Selection Process

It has been reported behind the scenes that KeSPA’s selection process was based on performance over the past 2 years (beginning from 2024). Performances for the following tournaments were taken into account: regional leagues, KeSPA Cup, World Championships.

For the 2026 regional leagues, only rounds that could be reviewed before the roster submission deadline were considered. International tournaments such as the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), First Stand (FST), and the Esports World Cup (EWC) were not included in the account.

From this set of parameters, an initial shortlist of 20 players was generated, based on tournament performance and individual awards (All-Pro Team selections and Player of the Game converted points).

Finally, individual metrics were used to decide the final candidate roster. These metrics include:

• KDA
• Average Solo Kills
• Kill Participation (KP)
• Champion Pool Size
• Damage Percentage (%)
• Damage per minute (DPM)
• Damage per gold (DPG)
• Gold difference per minute (GDPM)
• 14-minute CS Difference (14CSD)
• 14-minute Damage per gold (14DPG)
• Team Gold Share
• Team Damage Share
• Vision Score

For the roles of Jungle, Bot, and Support, additional role-specific metrics were also taken into consideration:

Jungle

• First Blood Participation Rate
• Time Spent Invading Enemy Jungle
• Counter-Jungle CS

Bot

• Duo Proximity Rate

Support

• Duo Proximity Rate
• Jungle Proximity Rate

A Displeased Public

Since the announcement earlier today, the reaction from the public fanbase has been less than supportive in general. The displeasure stems in part from the absence of some notable LCK talents and the inclusion of some. The biggest complaint comes in the form of the LCK’s currently perceived best Mid Laner, Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon, and his absence from the announced roster.

Chovy’s absence has since been reported to be due to a pre-existing hip injury. As part of the KeSPA evaluation for the shortlist, individuals who were subject to mandatory athletic service were excluded from the selection pool due to “injury treatment” and the “need to faithfully fulfill their mandatory duties”.

The aforementioned military service exemption plays a huge role in the current online discourse surrounding the selected players. Zeus, Faker, and Keria all previously attended the 2022 Asian Games and won the gold medal then, exempting all 3 of them. Other LCK long-time players were suggested as better candidates, so as to allow others the opportunity to earn the exemption.

Complaints also included the noted absence of Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun from the lineup, making him the only member of the original T1 ZOFGK roster to not represent Team South Korea at the upcoming tournament.

KeSPA has since opened an appeals window until May 29^th for players registered with the Korea Esports Association as well as guardians, coaches, and team leaders of players who participated in the national team selection trials.

The final national team roster is scheduled to be confirmed in June following approval by the Korea Sport and Olympic Committee’s Performance Enhancement Committee.

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Featured Image Credit: @YujinnieHa

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