If in case you have ever tuned into a significant esports broadcast, you might need seen the participant cams look a bit homogenous. South Korea is the worldwide capital of aggressive gaming, however its nationwide rosters have historically regarded like an all-male fraternity.
That historical past formally modified this week. Park So-yeon, a 23-year-old aggressive gamer, has been chosen as the primary girl ever to characterize South Korea on its official nationwide esports staff.
She is heading to Japan for the Asian Video games in Aichi-Nagoya, standing alongside absolute legends like League of Legends icon Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok.
Buying and selling Taekwondo Kicks for Hunters and Survivors
Park’s journey to the worldwide stage is about as removed from conventional because it will get. She truly spent her early years coaching as an elite martial artist, finding out taekwondo from age seven by means of school with desires of sporting the nationwide uniform.
When she hit a aggressive wall in martial arts, she put aside her athletic profession and picked up the survival horror cell recreation Identification V as an informal interest. However you possibly can by no means really flip off the mind of a aggressive athlete.
The sport really useful by a center faculty good friend shortly grew to become an obsession, main her to affix top-tier clans, dominate regional tournaments, and construct a repute as an elite teammate.
Carrying the Weight of a Nation and a Gender
Whereas Faker and firm are going for gold in mainstream PC juggernauts, Park is competing in Identification V, a hyper-tactical 4v1 asymmetrical horror recreation the place technique and staff communication matter way over flashy solo performs.
Out of thirty-six athletes representing South Korea throughout 13 completely different gaming titles, Park is the lone girl on the roster. She overtly admits to feeling a large sense of accountability to pave the best way for different feminine avid gamers who wish to break into the professional scene.
With the Asian Video games kicking off in September, she is heading into Japan with a single objective: show that South Korean gaming dominance seems good on everybody, and produce house the metallic with no regrets.
