Korea League of Legends match-fixing: further details on the Ahq Korea Promise case

Earlier today, Korean League of Legends player Ahq Korea Cheon “Promise” Min-ki (also known as AD Fimir and The Patience,) jumped off the twelfth story of an apartment building, where he lived with his sister, after releasing a note on inven.ko.kr forums, a Korean website dedicated to gaming. The post described his experience with eSports team Ahq, and how what he thought originally was a sponsorship turned out to be a scam.

Ahq Korea’s manager, Noh Dae-Chul, allegedly pressured team members to throw games in order to make money off of illegal bets. When Min-Ki found out about the fact that his team was made for the sole purpose of match-fixing, he immediately disbanded the team mid-season. Min-Ki, stating “everyone has a reason to live, but I have no reason to live”, wrote about the match-fixing in what was supposed to be his last words before attempting suicide.

(See: Report: match-fixing scandal leads to suicide attempt in Korea’s pro League of Legends scene)

Promise’s suicide attempt was thwarted by him falling on a recycling storage house, and he was found by neighbors saying “save me”, but the doctors say the fall may have caused permanent damage to his body. Right now, Promise is able to speak and hear, but needs assistance with breathing. However, the Korean League of Legends community is in an uproar, and are demanding answers. What are the country’s eSports organizations doing about it?

Under investigation

The Korean e-Sports Association (KeSPA) claims that it is now in discussion with Riot Games Korea and Ongamenet about ways to prevent future mishaps like this, even though Ahq Korea wasn’t a part of its organization. It is working on protecting players from these illegal activities like gambling, and promises to improve player environments. But promising as this sounds, this isn’t the first case of match-fixing in Korean eSports.

On May 16, 2010, Starcraft match-fixing scandals involving eleven known Starcraft professional players were confirmed by Korean news. These players had been approached by illegal gambling websites that wagered on their games, and were paid to purposefully throw games for their own financial benefits.

The players were harshly punished by the KeSPA, with each player receiving a permanent ban from professional gaming as well as a fine of thousands of dollars. Legal actions were also taken against them for involvement with the illegal gambling websites, resulting in the players having to serve hundreds of hours of community service and years of probation.

And so the question must be asked: how will the culprit (if this accusation proves true), Noh Dae-Chul (Ahq’s team manager) be punished? Will he be fined or jailed? It’s clear that he did scam e-Sports organizations and the players on his team. However if he is tried in accordance with Korean law, he is likely to face probation and fines, not jail time.

Personally, I hope KeSPA thoroughly investigates his case; I’m curious as to what Noh has to say. In the meantime, Games in Asia wishes the best to Min-ki (Fimir) and his family.

(via Inven, Dailygame and Seoul News )