Original source: http://bit.ly/1NZFVoi
Disclaimer: All credits including photo goes to Mr. Park Sang Jin of xportsnews.com. This is just a fan translation.
A professional athlete posted a tweet on social network back in April. The tweet shared the player’s perspective on how aggressive and hurtful Korean fans can be. As a result, the player, as well as the Korean fan base, were heavily criticized for their actions.
His words resonated within the community and the athlete came forth again to give his response to the community following-up on his initial comments. Once again, his words stirred up the community and gave headways to debates and discussions about the fan culture in Korea.
After five months, I caught up with the player to see if his perspective had changed and to understand what he was thinking at the time. The player happened to be in Korea for his team’s boot camp session, so I had the opportunity to hear his story.
He is Ham “Lustboy” Jang Sik, the support player of North America’s Team Solomid.
Joining TSM
Reporter: How did you decide to join TSM?
Lustboy: When I played overseas in North America and Europe as a LCK/OGN player, I was impressed by the tournament system and astonished by the fan base. I also wanted to learn English, so I saw it as a good opportunity. I believed in my skills as a support player, so if I had the chance to play for a foreign team, I would take it.
During my break from CJ Entus, TSM management offered me a contract. It was my first time living abroad, so I had some worries, but I thought it was the right time to go overseas. If it was any other foreign team in North America or Europe, I might have hesitated. TSM had a good record in their league and was well-known even in Korea, so I accepted the offer without hesitation.
Playing for a Foreign Team
Reporter: How is your experience playing for a foreign team?
Regardless of our different nationalities, we are all human in the end. The culture and language may differ, but our thought process is similar. I am still doing the same things I would as a League of Legends player, so there hasn’t been many challenges. I can adapt to any situation I end up in.
Initially, speaking English was a problem for me. During tournaments, I would have to ask multiple times for someone to drop a pink ward because I couldn’t say it right the first time. Communication is key in League of Legends, so I studied hard to grasp the English language. Now, I can communicate with my teammates without any problems.
Reporter: In the past, you criticized the fan culture in Korea. What were you feeling at the time?
Lustboy: When I tweeted about the fan culture in Korea, the public made backhanded comments and degrading statements about me. It wasn’t all bad, though. I learned from my faults and tried harder to improve myself through all the hate. But it did affect me emotionally because people didn’t consider how I felt reading those comments.
Reporter: How did you view the fan culture in Korea up to that point?
Lustboy: Fans can fight with each other or give harsh advice to players in eSports or other sports. I understand that players can accept this as part of being a fan. But at that time, all I saw was hateful bashing without any constructive criticism. I was really stressed out, which led me to tweet criticizing the Korean fan base. I wanted a change and I didn’t want the fan culture in Korea to be a place where people get hurt.
Looking back now, I should’ve mulled over and straightened out the points I wanted to make. People could’ve been hurt by my statements. But I have no regrets posting that on social media. There is room for criticism in sports. When criticism from the fans becomes personal attacks instead of being constructive criticism to help players improve, it has gone too far. That’s why I made that tweet. People used my tweet to speculate about me, so I posted a follow-up response for the community.
Reporter: After your posts, discussions about fan culture in Korea started happening. Do you think the fan culture has changed?
Lustboy: Honestly, I didn’t expect my tweet and follow-up post to cause so much commotion. I was going through a hard time, and I was worried about posting the tweet and follow-up after online comments said “this player is not a Korean.” But it turned out to be a good decision. People who shared my sentiments started discussing the fan culture in Korea and how we should reflect on the current state. People gained the courage to speak up after reading my posts. I believe this is when the fan culture in Korea began to change, and the personal attacks and hurtful bashing started to decrease.
It will take time, but I believe there will be a day when the fan culture in Korea is not based on hurtful speech. In my follow-up post, there were more comments from concerned fans than hateful comments. If nothing has changed within the community following my actions, then it would have been in vain.
But things did change. Not necessarily because of my actions, but change is happening. I encourage those who were afraid to speak their minds to rise up. I want to thank and express my respect to those who decided to help bring change within the Korean fan base.
Reporter: What is your goal as a player?
I want to make TSM the strongest team in the world. I hope that one day, the Western region becomes so strong that Asian teams come to the West for boot camps. There are challenges like ping and internet speed, so it might take time to achieve this goal.
Reporter: Do you have anything to say to your fans? Be honest!
I have no regrets about what I did in the past, but I admit I said some harsh things driven by my emotions. I apologize for that. I have no intention of criticizing Korea and its fan base. I believe that the culture of Korean fans will move in the right direction and one day, be something Koreans can be proud of. I sincerely thank my fans for their support and love, even with all the things I have done. If the opportunity arises, I would love to meet each and every one of you.
esports, fan culture in Korea, professional athlete, North American team, TSM, League of Legends player, foreign team, Korean fan base, criticism, constructive criticism, change, Korean fan culture, Korean fans, support player, boot camp, tournament system