South Korea Wins Five Esports Medals at 2026 Asian Games
The haul included a second consecutive gold medal in League of Legends and a gold in the fighting-game team event.
South Korea won five esports medals across nine events at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, including a second consecutive gold in League of Legends.
The final tally comprised two golds, one silver and two bronzes, spanning team and individual competitions.
South Korea defeated Chinese Taipei 3-0 in the League of Legends final at Aichi Sky Expo on October 2, finishing the tournament undefeated across all eight games.
The team topped Group B with wins over Chinese Taipei, India and Hong Kong before sweeping Saudi Arabia 2-0 in the semifinals.
The result extended South Korea's run of Asian Games League of Legends titles, following its gold at Hangzhou.
Faker, Zeus and Keria returned from that gold-winning roster to claim a second, while Canyon, Zeka and Gumayusi won gold in their Asian Games debuts.
The first gold of South Korea's campaign came on September 26, when Bae Jae-min, Lee Kwang-no and Yeon Je-gil beat host nation Japan 5-2 in the fighting-game team final.
South Korea had trailed 1-2 before winning four consecutive sets in an event that combined Tekken 8, The King of Fighters XV and Street Fighter 6.
Lee anchored the comeback with two match wins, while Bae claimed two sets after losing his opener.
Yeon also contributed by avenging an earlier defeat to Kojiro Higuchi.
The victory gave South Korea its first gold medal of the Games and highlighted a second route to the top of the podium beyond its flagship team event.
Kang Dong-shin added silver in Puyo Puyo Champions, reaching the September 26 final before losing 2-10 to Japan's Yuki Kurihara.
South Korea's first esports podium of the Games had arrived three days earlier: Kim Young-chan finished third among eight finalists in Gran Turismo 7, with the standings determined by points across three races.
The Pokémon UNITE team secured the other bronze.
Kim Jae-young, Park Seong-soon, Lee Ji-hwan, Cho Min-hyuk and Jin Soo-bin beat Singapore 2-1 in the September 27 quarterfinals, then lost 0-2 to Japan in the semifinals.
The competition awarded tied third place without a separate bronze-medal match.
Together, the five podium finishes show South Korea winning medals across different formats, from an individual racing final to team competitions in fighting games and multiplayer titles.
The spread across five disciplines gives the result a broader footprint than either gold-medal run alone.
South Korea entered nine esports events, but not every campaign reached the podium.
The PUBG Mobile team finished sixth with 71 points, despite taking a chicken dinner in the first match of the final day.
Honor of Kings and Identity V exited in the quarterfinals, while eFootball did not advance from the group stage.
The result adds another chapter to the Asian Games esports programme, where national teams bring together players from multiple titles and competitive formats.
South Korea's back-to-back League of Legends gold sits alongside four medals from other disciplines, making the five-medal finish a measure of breadth as well as success at the top of the podium.
Redington Cybersport reported in September that India's League of Legends team faced a crucial group stage against South Korea and Chinese Taipei.
