BTS fans stunned as South Korean esports stars can skip military service with Asian Games gold KESPASeveral fans of South Korean boy band BTS have expressed their dismay at learning that the esports players representing the country can be exempt from military service if they win gold medals at the 2022 Asian Games. Esports players from across Asia have traveled to Hangzhou, China, to compete at the 2022 Asian Games, where esports is making its debut as a medal event. The lineup of video games being played features League of Legends, Dota 2, Honor of Kings, PUBG Mobile, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, Street Fighter V, and FIFA Online 4. Hearthstone was initially on the list before being excluded after negotiations between Blizzard Entertainment and Chinese publishing partner NetEase fell through. For the South Korean players competing at the Asian Games, a gold medal will also lead to an exemption from mandatory military service. All able-bodied South Korean males must serve in the military for 18-21 months by the age of 28. Soccer star Son Heung-min was granted an exemption after helping the South Korean national team win gold at the 2018 Asian Games. He was only required to complete basic three-week training. An exemption would prove particularly important for League of Legends star Lee \u2018Faker\u2019 Sang-hyeok, who turns 28 in May. The T1 mid laner, widely recognized as the best League of Legends player of all time, missed four weeks of action earlier this year because of a wrist problem. BTS fans unhappy as esports players could skip military service According to news agency AFP, exemptions are typically granted to \u201celite athletes or classical musicians on the basis of promoting national prestige.\u201d The news of esports athletes potentially earning exemptions is likely to reignite a debate in South Korea that began when it was rumored that the government was considering allowing the members of BTS to skip service so that the boy band\u2019s progress would not be interrupted. But in October, all seven members announced that they would complete their service. On Friday, Suga became the third member of the band to enlist, after Jin and J-Hope. \u201cIf everyone gets an exemption for winning gold medals, then you have to include those in esports,\u201d Kim Myong-won, a Seoul resident, told Nikkei Asia. \u201cBut it does sound strange that you can be exempt for sitting in front of a computer and playing games.\u201d On social media, several fans of the boy band have expressed their shock at learning that esports players could skip service. \u201cI don\u2019t see how this is fair,\u201d one fan wrote on X\/Twitter in a post that has racked up over 5 million views. \u201cThis really makes me question how the South Korean government determines what national prestige is and how people contribute to it,\u201d another user wrote. \u201cDoes esports boost\/spread their culture more than music, the arts and global relations? I wonder how much money esports contributes to their economy versus BTS and other artists?\u201d The 2022 Asian Games\u2019 esports competitions began on Sunday, September 24, with the first Honor of Kings and FIFA Online 4 matches. The League of Legends tournament kicked off Monday, September 25, with South Korea breezing past its group opponents to secure a playoff spot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BTS fans stunned as South Korean esports stars can skip military service with Asian Games gold KESPASeveral fans of South Korean boy band BTS have expressed their dismay at learning that the esports players representing the country can be exempt from military service if they win gold medals at the 2022 Asian Games. Esports players […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66364\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}