South Korea Esports Team Makes History at National Training Center

South Korea's esports program has crossed into new territory. According to the Korea Sport & Olympic Committee, the national team has entered the Jincheon National Training Center for the first time ever, running a three-day camp from July 29 through July 31 to lock in cohesion before the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games open in September.

The 22-athlete call-up

The camp roster runs 22 players deep across six disciplines: PUBG Mobile, Puyo Puyo Champions, eFootball, Gran Turismo 7, Pokémon UNITE, and Identity V. That list already tells you where the Korea Olympic Committee is placing its chips — mobile battle royale, the puzzle and console staples, and the asymmetrical survival genre. Notably absent from this training camp: League of Legends, VALORANT, and Overwatch 2, none of which are on the Asian Games program. Esports debuted as a full medal sport at the 2022 Hangzhou Games with seven disciplines and expands to 11 at Aichi-Nagoya, so the depth of the title pool is the real story — Korean bodies will be on the line across more categories than ever.

Village access and the program inside

The stakes are institutional as much as competitive. Athletes will use the training center's full facilities, sit in on a special lecture from National Training Center head Kim Taek-soo, and join the "Cheer UP Stage" — a D-50 morale event marking the countdown to the Asian Games opening ceremony, designed to mix esports players with athletes from other sports training alongside them. The KSOC also booked cooperative sessions with the Korea Institute of Sport Science and mandatory anti-doping education, signaling that the federation is treating this delegation like any other national team rather than a side attraction. Kim framed the milestone in unequivocal terms: "I sincerely welcome the esports national team to the training center for the first time," he said, adding that he expects the squad to compete "fueled by the pride of representing their country."

What to watch next

The camp closes Friday, but the sequence matters. Korea's full delegation selection for all 11 Asian Games disciplines is still to be finalized, and the identity-versus-mobile-versus-console split will shape scrim calendars through August. The next domino: whether the remaining five disciplines — including any titles absent from this camp — get their own centralized training windows before the September 18 opening in Nagoya.