On the 21st of August, the Korean eSports national representatives held a press conference to express their expectations and resolutions for the upcoming Jakarta Asian Games 2018.

The Korean representatives included Cho “Maru” Seong Ju for StarCraft; Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, Go “Score” Dong-bin, Han “Peanut” Wang-ho, Kim “Kiin” Gi-in, Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk and Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in for League of Legends, as well as coaches Choi “Edgar” Woo-beom and Lee “Zefa” Jae-Min assisting the League of Legends players.

Earlier this month, KOCCA revealed the official jersey for the South Korean esports representatives attending the Asian Games. Today was the first time that the players made a public appearance wearing the uniform.

After the press conference, the 6 League of Legends players as well as the 2 coaches will begin a group practise for 2 days, before departing for Jakarta on the 24th of August. Maru, the StarCraft representative for Korea, will depart for Jakarta on the 28th of August.

Ashley Kang of Korizon attended the press conference and was able to hear the thoughts of the Korean reporesentatives before they head off to Jakarta.

Faker, you are now the most well-known esports celebrity after Boxer. What are your thoughts on this?

Faker: I’ve been making a few appearances on mainstream TV recently, and that has somehow made me well-known by the public. If the Korean team show good results during the Asian Games, it will mean that the general public will have a better impression of esports. So we must show exemplary results in the Asian Games.

Score, you have been at the top of your career for many years. Yet, you’ve never come first place in any of the major tournaments. If you win a gold medal in the Asian Games, it will significantly boost your CV.

Score: I’ve never won a title in (LCK), so winning a gold medal in the Asian Games will be a very meaningful experience for me. I’d like to do well and win a gold medal, along with all my new teammates.

There are two junglers in the League team. How will you utilize both players?

Edgar: I believe that the playstyle of the two junglers are different. We plan to sub in one of the players depending on the condition of the player or the playstyle of the team that we are facing on the day.

China has traditionally been a rival of the LCK. What are your thoughts on the Chinese national team?

Kiin: The top laner of China, Letme, is gifted in many aspects of the game, but I believe I have a higher ground around playing the game aggressively.

Score: The Korea team has less time to practise compared to China. However, our team also has good players. Mlxg of China is a very aggressive jungler, however I am a jungler who is good at surpressing that; so I am not too worried about that match-up.

Peanut: Mlxg is indeed an aggressive jungler. I am just as aggressive as Mlxg, also.

Faker: In the LCK, we all play on different teams. However, when we played as one during the preliminary rounds of the Asian Games, I felt that we had good synergy together. So I think it will be good to be hopeful (for good results in the Asian Games). As for the Chinese mid laner, Xiye, I have played against him in the past. I will do my analysis against him so I may face him well during the Asian Games.

Ruler: Uzi is the perfect player in every aspect of the game. I only have to put my mind straight, and I think we’ll have the upper hand.

CoreJJ: Ming of China and SwordArt of Taiwan have been players at the top of their games for so many years. However, I have faced them frequently and I have never believed that I was at a disadvantage against them. I will play against them with confidence.

Faker, have you prepared anything for the ceremony, like the tumble you did for 2015 Worlds?

Faker: It’s been 3 years since that, and…ever since then, I never got to think about things outside of the game. I don’t think I can do something like that again.

How has the boot camp been going? Any thoughts on adjusting to Jakarta in terms of timezones and food once you get there?

Edgar: From tomorrow, we’ll be kicking off our boot camp. There, we have scrims booked with LCK teams. In terms of food, the committee is helping us out when we get there. I don’t think we will have too many issues once we get there.

Many players in the team have commented that it was difficult to become friends with Faker.

Score: None of the players are social so it hasn’t happened yet. I’ll work hard so everyone can become friends with Faker.

Faker: My personality isn’t that extroverted, so it’s been hard to make friends with my teammates. I’ve been putting in some effort to be friends; I’ll try to put in even more effort from now on.