SEOUL: South Korean teenager Yoon Ki-chan gets just three hours of sleep a day but spends more than three times that playing online games - with the blessing of his parents and teachers - as he dreams of becoming a top pro League of Legends player.
"I suffered a lot from the shutdown law. I typically don't sleep a lot, so I studied different things during the shutdown hours. If it weren't for the law, I could have been a better player by now," said Yoon, who says he can game at least four hours more now since turning 16 this year. Park said the private academy has seen a 30-fold jump in daily consultations since it started this programme in 2016.GOVERNMENT APATHY?
But the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism wants to do more, especially ahead of organised competitions such as the Asian Games, an official said without giving details. Among them are SK Group's SK Telecom, Hyundai Motor affiliate Kia Corporation, Hanwha Group's Hanwha Life Insurance and KT Corporation.
SK Telecom-backed team T1, on which Faker, the most famous League of Legends gamer of all time, plays, opened its esports academy last month. The 20-week programme costs 5.6 million won, but applications are flooding in, it said.