South Korea take five Asian Games esports medals, repeat LoL gold

South Korea ended the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with five esports medals from nine events, capped by a second consecutive League of Legends gold on October 2. Its final tally was two golds, one silver and two bronzes across team and individual competitions.

The League of Legends team beat Chinese Taipei 3-0 in the final at Aichi Sky Expo. It finished undefeated across all eight games, having topped Group B with wins over Chinese Taipei, India and Hong Kong before beating Saudi Arabia 2-0 in the semifinals.

League of Legends gold retained

Faker, Zeus and Keria returned from South Korea’s gold-winning team at Hangzhou to claim another title. Canyon, Zeka and Gumayusi won gold in their Asian Games debuts.

The October 2 victory was South Korea’s final gold of the campaign. Its first had come six days earlier against host nation Japan in the fighting-game team event.

Fighting-game comeback and three more medals

Bae Jae-min, Lee Kwang-no and Yeon Je-gil beat Japan 5-2 in the September 26 fighting-game final after trailing 1-2. South Korea won four consecutive sets in an event combining 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.

Kang Dong-shin earned silver in Puyo Puyo Champions on September 26, reaching the final before losing 2-10 to Japan’s Yuki Kurihara. South Korea’s first esports medal had arrived three days earlier, when Kim Young-chan placed third among eight Gran Turismo 7 finalists in standings determined by points across three races.

The Pokémon UNITE team took 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 before losing 0-2 to Japan in the semifinals. Tied third place was awarded without a separate bronze-medal match.

A haul across five disciplines

South Korea’s medals came from five different disciplines, ranging from an individual racing final to team contests in fighting games and multiplayer titles. Four medals beyond League of Legends gave the campaign a broader spread than its repeat title alone.

Not every entry 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 ended in the quarterfinals, while eFootball did not advance from the group stage.