The foreign presence in Korea

Wanderlust

Jeffrey "SjoW" Brusi, the Swedish Terran who recently won the IEM European Championships in Kiev, has written an application for the GSL foreigner house in Seoul, Korea.Several hours ago on IRC, Sjow noted that he wrote the application. He later confirmed this privately. It is important to note that there is no guarantee that he will actually make the move to Korea because he wishes to play in IEM tournaments as well. It seems that his immediate StarCraft future may be determined by the scheduling of these two tournaments. Should they clash in a significant way, he will have to make a difficult choice.The prospect of a Terran like SjoW in Korea must excite not just foreign fans but even the GSL itself. The league has seen increased exposure and a large viewership thanks to recent foreign success.The GSL foreigner house (you can see a tour of the apartment here ) is intended to help foreign StarCraft 2 talent move to and compete in Korea at the highest levels. Although the house remains empty right now, it seems that it will become active very soon.Foreign talent such as Jinro, Idra, Ret and more have helped boost GSL's notoriety around the world. Hundreds of thousands have tuned in to high profile matches involving non-Koreans - 178,353 have watched the VOD of Idra vs. Jinro and many more watched it live. It only makes sense that the GSL would do everything within its power to encourage foreigners to participate thus increasing the league's profile around the world.Sjow's move to apply to the house comes as bit of a surprise considering that just days ago, he said he did not wish to go to South Korea "There's enough money here [in Europe]," he said to Thorin. "If I go there I have to be Code A if I'm lucky. It takes too much time to get to Code S. If I would get to Code S I would go there I think."He left the door open an inch with that last statement and he seems to be taking his first step through that door toward Korea right now.Sjow has been playing at the top level of StarCraft 2 for months now. He's had several notable wins throughout the European scene. Now, his win in Kiev puts him in a very strong position as one of the top foreigners in the world.One should note that Sjow has a history of considering big moves in the name of StarCraft. In October, Sjow declared his intention to attend GSL 3. The response was mixed, citing his uneven results at the time. He's also publicly considered a move to Germany for the ESL Pro Series in the past.However, with his recent win in Kiev and the imminent opening of the GSL foreign house in Korea, he's likely never been in such an excellent position. One would be hard pressed to argue that he does not deserve a spot in a house full of the top foreigners, fighting to compete at the highest levels in South Korea.Photo: Team-Dignitas.net