eSports Status to Be Recognized Worldwide... SKT Partners with Korea eSports Association

Kim Hee-seop, SKT Communications Manager (right), and Kim Young-man, Chairman of the Korea e-Sports Association, are posing for a commemorative photo after signing the sponsorship contract.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] SK Telecom announced on the 31st that it has signed an official sponsorship partnership agreement with the Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) for the next three years to expand the domestic e-sports industry base and improve the performance of the national representative team.

Since founding the professional gaming team T1 in 2004 and serving as the chairman of KeSPA for eight years starting in 2005, SKT has contributed to the development of domestic e-sports. Through this partnership, SKT plans to play a leading role in supporting the Asian Games e-sports national team as well as advancing next-generation domestic e-sports, including the e-sports adaptation of VR/AR games. E-sports was selected as an official event for the first time at the Hangzhou Asian Games held this September.

SKT and KeSPA plan to gradually introduce virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) games into domestic e-sports competitions in line with the metaverse era trend. SKT has secured broadcasting rights for major domestic e-sports tournaments organized by KeSPA and will provide customers with differentiated e-sports experiences by utilizing SKT’s core information and communication technology (ICT) such as metaverse and media.

The two parties signed the partnership agreement on the 30th at the Korea e-Sports Association located in Sangam-dong. The signing ceremony was attended by Kim Hee-seop, SKT Communications Officer, and Kim Young-man, President of the Korea e-Sports Association, among others.

Kim Hee-seop, SKT Communications Officer, said, “We take pride in SKT’s role in the remarkable development of domestic e-sports over the past 20 years,” and added, “We hope this partnership will be an opportunity for Korean e-sports to take a leap forward.”