Inside Korea's esports training camp, where gamers get Olympic-style care

By Hankookilbo

• Published Sep 16, 2026 12:05 AM KST

Top gamers receive Olympic-level physical therapy, sleep monitoring, mental preparation at exclusive Busan camp

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 Jincheon National Training Center, Korea’s premier Olympic training complex.

The national esports team, competing in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, is finalizing preparations at the venue. League of Legends (LoL) national team players, including Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, will join the Busan camp after completing their domestic seasons.

The Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) announced on Monday that the LoL roster finished their domestic schedules Sunday and traveled directly to Busan to begin a bootcamp and scrims. The squad will play warm-up matches against Thailand and Vietnam this weekend to prepare.

Led by head coach Kang Dong-hoon, former head coach of KT Rolster, the roster features Lee, who won a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games three years ago, alongside Choi "Zeus" Woo-je, Ryu "Keria" Min-seok, Kim "Zeka" Geon-woo, Kim "Canyon" Geon-bu and Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyung.

The Asian Games expanded its esports program this year to 11 medal events, four more than the Hangzhou Games, with competition scheduled for late September and early October. At Hangzhou, where esports was first contested as an official event, Korea secured two gold medals, one silver and one bronze, ranking second behind China, which took four gold and one bronze. This time, China is not participating in LoL, altering the competitive landscape for the Korean team.

Competitors in other titles joined the camp late last month. KeSPA temporarily closed the arena to the public on Aug. 25 and has been operating it as an exclusive national team training facility.

The 41-person delegation — 36 athletes and five coaches — begins training around 10 a.m. and trains into the night. Training sometimes lasts past midnight.

Physical therapists, mental preparation

The support system rivals that of the Jincheon National Training Center. Three dedicated physical therapists monitor the players' physical condition and assist with recovery.

"We check each player’s fitness and health to provide customized fitness programs, while continuously monitoring sleep and recovery," a KeSPA official said. "We are also conducting psychological assessments, anxiety management and mental preparation."

Considering the physical toll of prolonged sitting and the mental fatigue of making repeated split-second decisions, KeSPA is taking an integrated approach to players' physical health, sleep and mental preparation.

"The environment is well equipped so that we can focus solely on training. We are also receiving ample support, which helps us train while maintaining good condition," said Lee "MaDKof" Kwang-no, 45, who is competing in The King of Fighters XV.

For the athletes across these titles, the national uniform carries a strong sense of duty.

"As I am competing at the event as a national team player, I will do my utmost to achieve the best possible result," said, 23-year-old Han "Namu3" Seong-geon, who is competing in Honor of Kings.

Korea will enter nine of the 11 medal events: LoL, fighting games, such as Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, The King of Fighters XV, and Pokemon Unite, Honor of Kings, PUBG Mobile (Asian Games version), Identity V (Asian Games version), Gran Turismo 7, eFootball series and Puyo Puyo Champions.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.