By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter

South Korea is becoming an e-sports mecca this summer by hosting a series of international conventions and competitions of computer and video gaming.

A dozen countries including China, Vietnam, France, Japan, India and Singapore are sending government envoys to Seoul this week to learn from its experience and know-how in transforming computer gaming into a lucrative sporting business. This year's second International e-Sports Symposium will be held from Saturday to Tuesday in COEX, southern Seoul.

The international conference on computer and video gaming competitions is co-organized by the government-funded Korea Game Industry Agency (KOGIA) and the Korea e-Sports Association (KESPA). Along with the government officials, major media outlets such as Star TV of Hong Kong and representatives from South Korean professional e-sports clubs will participate in the event, the organizers said.

``We are going to make an online forum this time so the people in the e-sports industry can talk to each other anytime of the year,'' an official at the e-sports association said.

The so-called e-sports have become a new cultural icon especially in South Korea where there are two 24-hour cable TV channels dedicated to broadcasting video and computer game competitions of professional players.

There are a dozen professional clubs owned by major conglomerates such as Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom. Even the Air Force operates a ``Star Craft'' computer game team consisting of conscripted professional players for promotional purpose.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has been in charge of the nation's e-sports policies, and many local governments have jumped into the business, too.

This week, Seoul city invites hundreds of top computer gamers to the Seoul International e-Sports Festival. It is slated for Aug. 9-12 at Olympic Park in southeastern Seoul.

Highlights of the e-sports festival will be aired via local and foreign media, as well as sports cable channel Xports and Internet broadcasting on Gom TV, Naver and Freechal. The total prize for the winners is 150 million won.

In fall, the e-sports industry will once again gather in the southern city of Daegu at the ``e-fun 2007'' convention.

The Daegu city government plans to foster the event as a more business-oriented expo. Oct. 25 will see the launch of the first World Game Culture Conference where experts from 10 nations will discuss ways to utilize games in other industries, the organizer said.

Busan city hosted the finals of the ``StarCraft'' pro-league last week, where some 70,000 spectators filled the vast Gwangan-ri beach to watch the best-of-seven series on a giant screen.

indizio@koreatimes.co.kr