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Physician
United States4146 Posts
A few more details on top of all those already mentioned in this thread: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=46378
Pro-gamers serving as computer technicians in the Air Force.
From left: Choi In-gyu, Kang Do-kyung and Joe Hyung-keun.
(Poor guys, they look waxed. Korean Military must be tough.)
Source
(Copy/Paste in case they pull it down in a few days or so.)
Air Force Star Fighters Get Leave to Play Virtual Games
Pro-gamers serving as computer technicians in the Air Force are resolved to win the games they take part in while serving in the military, not least because their performance will reflect on the institution. Where before conscription they only had themselves to worry about, they now have the expectations of the Air Force riding on their shoulders. Choi In-gyu (25) and Joe Hyung-keun (22), who have served in the Central Computing Center of the Air Force since June, are to compete in the preliminary contest of the MBC Game StarCraft League 10th Survivor to be held at the IPARK mall in Yongsan, Seoul, on Tuesday.
It is the first time serving soldiers participate in games since the Air Force announced in March this year that it will allow former e-sports pro-gamers in the forces to represent it at major domestic games. The king of Terran, Im Yo-hwan (26), who joined the military on Oct. 9, will also able to play StarCraft games again soon. But not this time: Im is still in basic training camp. So far, the Air Force let in four pro-gamers: Choi In-gyu, Jo Hyung-keun, Kang Do-kyung and Im Yo-hwan.
The Air Force wants to harness the gamers’ computer skills in its war-game simulations, which prepare for a possible in virtual environments and scenarios. There, the imaginary enemy carries out a sudden large-scale attack at an early stage of the war, and the response depends on how well the pro-gamers respond and how fast they process orders.
Their personal websites and fan clubs faced closure when they had to join the military, but now they are renewing their activities. Im Yo-hwan who has some 500,000 fans, saw his fan club become more active after he joined the Air Force.
Now the pro-gamers get up 6 a.m. and work as computer technicians and support the activities of computer clubs in the Air Force until 5 p.m. After dinner, they keep practicing until midnight, way past the evening roll call at 9:30 p.m. "Before joining the military, we used to sleep until noon and played games in the afternoon but we have to work according to the pre-determined schedule in the military, and that’s the hardest part for us,” one said.
But another change they experience is that they come to concentrate on their games more intensively. However, they cannot claim their prize money when they win. An Air Force spokesman said the force plans to create a game team in the Air Force but members cannot take their prize money because they serve in the military. Serving pro-gamers are also prohibited from playing overseas.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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nice report :O
boxer will return in a year or two right?
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On November 16 2006 20:21 thedeadhaji wrote:I reaaaalllly feel like this is a bad idea for the korean military though. Giving special treatment to certain subsets of the trainees cannot be good for the atmosphere of the personnel  I cant be too pleased about this with respect to the larger issue of the korean military, even though in terms of progaming I guess it is a positive thing.
Presumably the Korean military has football teams and such also, though?
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Like I said, this is like the Army-Navy football rivalry in the US. It's about time the Korean military caught on 
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They have military teams and they play in lower leagues? not top flight. However still. so I think it's only fair that e-sports also have their military based teams since the occupation by nature is limited in terms of longevity just like other mainstream sports. But I don't know how they'll be able to compete in PL anytime soon because their roster is short. It will be so cool though if they come in their military uniforms (no pilot suits though) that'd intimidate the other team a little(and a lot of the older gamers who are stars like Boxer will probably join soon making them pretty competitive)
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omg this can't be good for me. I was suppose to come to terms with boxer being gone for 2 years, learn some self-discipline, and become a better person because of it.
o well, fuck it
BOXER FIGHTING!!!!~~~
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What will happen to the money the players win?
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United States20667 Posts
Now YellOw NaDa retire, join progaming team of airforce. IS team, resurrected!
[not going to happen, NaDa's too young... bah]
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Kennigit
Canada19447 Posts
On November 16 2006 20:45 azndsh wrote:Like I said, this is like the Army-Navy football rivalry in the US. It's about time the Korean military caught on
A wee bit different considering the Army Navy game is represented by Westpoint and USNA...both are accredited Universities who compete nationally. Its not like the army, navy or marine corps themselves dedicate time to training a team except internally at unit level
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whres boxer in the picture?
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On November 16 2006 21:04 Dknight wrote:
What will happen to the money the players win?
Classified Information!! They probably wanna milk a few g's off people lol. I would assume if they can't keep tournament winnings, someone in the Korean beauracracy will pocket off their hard work.
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thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
On November 16 2006 20:36 fonger wrote:Show nested quote +On November 16 2006 20:21 thedeadhaji wrote:I reaaaalllly feel like this is a bad idea for the korean military though. Giving special treatment to certain subsets of the trainees cannot be good for the atmosphere of the personnel I cant be too pleased about this with respect to the larger issue of the korean military, even though in terms of progaming I guess it is a positive thing. Presumably the Korean military has football teams and such also, though?
woah rly? man didnt know that. 
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Yeah, what's up with this participation for no gain, why should they do it then? Only for fame?
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Vatican City State64 Posts
haha then the military's just gonna draft all top players of the pro teams and it becomes a unstoppable force. kinda unfair -.-
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
for two years only though!
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Clon qualified for ODT, right? can't wait to see his TV-games! i wonder if they'll be using those blue uniforms they used at the offline qualifiers
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On November 16 2006 21:04 Dknight wrote:
What will happen to the money the players win?
Probably will go to some NGO like the FFF, Fund for Foreign Fighters, a korean instiution dedicated to making progamers in the third world.
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Pro-gamers serving as computer technicians in the Air Force.
From left: Choi In-gyu, Kang Do-kyung and Joe Hyung-keun.
wrong, the guy on the left is Jo Hyung-Keun aka Qoo)Clon, and on the right it's ChRh (Choi In-Kyu)
great article tho thanks
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Physician
United States4146 Posts
# soonsu e-mail englishnews@chosun.com and tell them, I am sure they will appreciate it.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://english.chosun.com/media/photo/news/200611/200611100025_01.jpg)
