{"id":30207,"date":"2026-02-21T08:09:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=30207"},"modified":"2026-02-21T08:09:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:09:36","slug":"how-seoul-became-the-worlds-esports-capital-and-is-using-it-as-a-key-tourism-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=30207","title":{"rendered":"How Seoul became the world\u2019s esports capital and is using it as a key tourism strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Outside Jonggak Station in central Seoul on a chilly Saturday evening, the air carries a hum of anticipation as an escalator climbing towards the third floor of a downtown office complex funnels hundreds of <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">League of Legends<\/em> fans towards a single glowing destination: LoL Park, the home of the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) competition and the beating heart of Seoul\u2019s esports scene.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">An hour before the big match between KT Rolster and Gen.G begins, the concourse feels like a high-stakes cross between a football derby and a movie premiere. Fans in team-branded beanies line up for barbecue chicken and beer, while others pose for photos under towering character statues.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">While only 450 fans can fit inside the arena, hundreds of thousands more tune in online \u2013 on platforms such as Soop, Chzzk and YouTube \u2013 turning what is billed as a regional Saturday match into a globally watched event.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Inside LoL Park\u2019s LCK Arena \u2013 a modern colosseum where seats wrap 360 degrees around an open stage \u2013 players sit barely five metres (16 feet) from the front row, close enough for fans to witness the players\u2019 intense focus and listen to their rapid-fire in-game communications.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-inline-container e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"image-inline caption e1fvabeq0 css-19sk4h4 ea9pn0s0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<figure class=\"image-inline caption ea9pn0s1 css-1qeofuq e1gf69pb0\" data-qa=\"ArticleImage-ArticleImageContainer\">\n<div data-qa=\"ArticleImage-handleRenderImage-ImageContainer\" class=\"css-0 e1gf69pb3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Giant photos of star esports players hang on the walls of LoL Park in Seoul. Photo: The Korea Times\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/01\/23\/7770dd3b-b2ab-4e59-8f46-6383ad89fdb7_d4fcc2e9.jpg\" title=\"Giant photos of star esports players hang on the walls of LoL Park in Seoul. Photo: The Korea Times\"\/><\/div><figcaption data-qa=\"ArticleImage-DescriptionContainer\" class=\"css-1ixmelf e1gf69pb1\">Giant photos of star esports players hang on the walls of LoL Park in Seoul. Photo: The Korea Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">This proximity fuels a unique fan culture centred on \u201ccheerfuls\u201d: hand-drawn placards created by fans in the arena\u2019s communal zone. Using markers, fans decorate these boards with intricate drawings of game characters and messages of encouragement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/entertainment\/article\/3340978\/how-seoul-became-worlds-esports-capital-and-using-it-key-tourism-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Outside Jonggak Station in central Seoul on a chilly Saturday evening, the air carries a hum of anticipation as an escalator climbing towards the third&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4840],"tags":[3120,8081,1623,1645,5753,5058,3117],"class_list":["post-30207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-globetrotting","tag-capital","tag-esports","tag-key","tag-seoul","tag-strategy","tag-tourism","tag-worlds","wpcat-4840-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}