Gwanghwamun’s first street cheer to win Rold Cup is a ‘frenzy’ (종합).

(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Mi-ryung = “I was almost moved to tears by the players’ comments after their victory. I realized anew how many people love e-sports when I saw the street cheering.”

On the evening of the 19th, when the Korean team T1 defeated the Chinese team WeiBo Gaming and took the trophy in the *League of Legends (LoL) World Championship* final, Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul also turned into a cauldron of excitement.

Citizens gathered in front of the four large screens installed in the square, armed with thick padding, hand warmers, hats, and scarves, forgot the cold and enjoyed the joy.

The LoL World Cup is the most prestigious international club competition in LoL held every November and the largest e-sports event in the world in terms of audience numbers. It’s been five years since the World Cup was held in Korea after the 2018 tournament, and the final was held in Seoul for the first time in nine years.

‘LoL’ is a game where five players form a team and win by breaking through the opponent’s defense and destroying the building ‘Nexus’ deep in the base. It is called ‘LoL World Cup’ in reference to the ‘World Cup’.

Reflecting the recent e-sports boom, this is the first time street cheering for the LoL World Cup, not the World Cup, was held in Gwanghwamun Square.

The 5,000-seat spectator stand (including standing seats) that opened at noon was already full around 4:30 PM, about an hour before the start of the game. There were also those who had been waiting for admission from 6 AM to watch the game from the front.

The organizers estimated that about 40,000 people visited the venue throughout the day.

Around 5:30 PM, when the Korean team players entered the stadium and each player’s name was called one by one, the fans poured out cheers by tapping their cheering sticks.

Yu So-hyun (25), who wore a T1 uniform and made a headband with a cheering stick, laughed, saying, “I wanted to cheer on the streets together, shouting because the game was held in Korea. I’m originally a T1 fan, but every time I go to a live game, we lose, so I came to Gwanghwamun Square.”

Around 8:10 PM, when T1 won a big victory with a set score of 3:0, Gwanghwamun Square was filled with the shouts of fans chanting “T1! T1”.

Lee Ye-ji (19), who said she took the college entrance exam this year, said, “I finished the college entrance exam and came to the street cheering and saw the Korean team win,” and “It’s the first street cheering in e-sports, but I thought a lot of people came and e-sports in Korea has really developed a lot.”

Choi Hyun-soo (21) said, “The parents’ generation came to Gwanghwamun Square to cheer for the World Cup or the Olympics, but it feels great that so many people came out to cheer on the streets for a game.”

Woo Kwang-hee (27), who came from Nowon-gu, Seoul, laughed, saying, “I didn’t even know it was cold because of the cheering atmosphere. It’s joyous and touching because the result I really wanted has been achieved. Last year, it was ‘Zhongkeoma’ (the important thing is not to break your heart), but this year, we finally defeated China and became ‘Zhongkeoma’.”

Foreign fans wearing T1 uniforms and hats were also noticeable here and there.

Gina Kretzmeier (24), who came to Korea as an exchange student from Germany last summer, said, “I’m cheering for Faker, the first e-sports player I ever knew,” and “Looking at today’s cheering atmosphere, the e-sports fever in Korea is incomparable to Germany.”

In line with this year’s LoL World Cup, Seoul City has transformed the area around Gwanghwamun Square into a space for e-sports and games for three days from the 16th to the 19th.

For the prevention of safety accidents due to crowd congestion, security personnel and police forces were also deployed around Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, the venue for the final, and Gwanghwamun Square, where the street cheering was held.

already@yna.co.kr