Newton resident Dan Jung, or Korean DJ as he is internationally known, has officially returned to the competitive eSports fighting game community (or FGC) after his 2009 retirement. The Bostonian was renown in the FGC as one of the top players of the Nintendo franchise Super Smash Bros Brawl and Super Smash Bros Melee, winning Nintendo’s only officially sanctioned tournament in 2008 as well as taking top honors at the prestigious Major League Gaming tournaments in ’06 and ’07.

Jung is sponsored by the professional eSports organization, Team Liquid, who mainly ink deals with players in the extremely popular and lucrative StarCraft 2 and Dota competitive leagues.

Nintendo of America, long-criticized for ignoring the competitive gaming community, recently announced that they would select 16 highly-skilled players to play in a special “invitational,” tournament on June 10. The contestants will compete on a build of Super Smash Bros for the Wii U, about six months before the game’s slated release.

Korean DJ, who has been winning local weekly tournaments like Smashing Grounds at Framingham’s Game Underground, since emerging out of retirement this year, is excited to defend his title as the best Smash player in the country.

Congratulations on your invite! With Nintendo’s past disinterest in competitive gaming, was it surprising to you that such a tournament is actually happening?

KDJ: I’m really excited, and I’m really grateful to have this opportunity.

It’s pretty clear now that Nintendo is more aware of the competitive scene than many thought. They have chosen a good number of players, and not just from America but also Japan. People used to say Nintendo didn’t care about the competitive scene, but this shows how fully aware of the scene they really are. I think it’s an amazing gesture.

When did you decide to come out of retirement?

As soon as I popped on the Team Liquid jacket, my retirement was over. I mainly do things for the sole purpose of improving – that’s my ultimate drive. That’s what pushes my instincts to the next level. Some people believe in natural gifts, but I don’t really like that kind of talk. For me, it was a matter of hard work.

Some of your most watched videos on YouTube aren’t match highlights. Can you talk about your violin renditions of video game music on YouTube?

I only really started playing violin around 9th grade. There were a lot of competent violinists who were seniors. Their skill level was really motivating. I started violin in 2002 as a freshman, and I was the worst violinist in the orchestra. I was the weakest member, but with dedication I became the strongest member in 2006. That’s when I became the concert master of the orchestra. I had that ambition to be the best violinist in the orchestra, just getting to that position was always the motivating factor.

Sounds a lot like your drive to be the best at Smash.

I started playing competitive Smash in 2004, and in 2006 I rose up the ranks. I got second place at my first Major League Gaming tournament that year, winning $5,000. In 2007 I won first place at MLG.

And then you lost interest after winning Nintendo’s official Super Smash Bros Brawl tournament in 2008?

When I stopped playing Smash [in 2009], I turned to music. I incorporated my love of video games into my love of music. The vast majority of people actually sleep on video game music. They say it does not have depth to it, which is completely false. Playing along to game music helped me play by ear. Then I thought one day maybe I could upload some of my songs on YouTube.

I’ve gotten surprisingly good feedback from the viewers.

Do you think your background in performing as the concert master and violinist in high school helped give you nerves to compete at FGC events?

The type of audiences you perform to as a Smash Bros competitor is totally different than the type of audience that comes to see a live orchestra. Whenever you play in an orchestra, you rarely ever hear the audience boo. Orchestra audiences have two responses; they’ll applaud honestly, or applaud politely. It’s very rare that the audience would be “against” you.

In Smash, I’m used to crowds rooting for me, or against me. They support me in Boston, but when I’m in New York, the crowd is definitely against me because of the sports rivalry. It doesn’t really affect me that much. Some players can break down and play very poorly.

Maybe performing in front of an audience is something I have gotten used to. When I have a controller, I can only focus on how I play, so I focus on my gameplay. The crowd is an external factor.

The Invitational on June 10th is taking place at a theatre in Los Angeles with potentially hundreds of thousands of people tuning in via a video stream. That won’t effect your decisions at all?

Unfortunately, the character we have to stick with for duration of the tournament is being decided by random draft. Otherwise, since it’s an unreleased game I would totally ask the crowd which character they wanted to see.

The players don’t get to decide whom we can play, rather it will be a “pull a number out the hat” kind of deal. I hope I get to select some of the newer cast like Villager or Rosalina. I think the audience would love to see a new character. It’s not going to be as interesting to pick a Marth or a Peach. I want to try out Rosalina, who is new, but looks like a good choice. She has a unique kind of play style, in which you control two characters at once. She could have a lot of depth.

Is there anything about this new iteration that you’re excited by, after seeing the footage of the game that has already been released?

Judging from the footage, it moved away from the slower pace in Brawl. Judging from the trailer, it seems they’ve brought the game back to the style of [2001’s] Melee. It may not be quite as fast, but the pace of the fighting has definitely picked up since Brawl.

What’s the most money, or prizes you’ve won at a tournament? d

There was one money match where we wagered an iPod Nano, which, at the time was like 150 dollars. I won that. Nintendo hosted that Brawl tournament in 2008, where I won over $10,000 of stuff: A 50-inch television, some really nice speakers…Oh, and a Wii console in crystal with a free copy of Super Smash Bros Brawl. I was 19 at the time. It was awesome.