🎧 Yul's Korea Audio Guide

PC Bang & E-sports

Listen to Yul's guide

Narrated in English with Korean phrases by YUL of KVIBE IDOLS.

🎵 Background music: Letter on the Wind (바람의 편지) — KVIBE IDOLS · Listen to the full song →

Full transcript

Annyeong, yeoreobun! Yul here. Raise your hand if you've ever said, just one more game. Same! Today we're in Jongno, at a holy place of e-sports.

The year is 1998. Korea is going through a painful financial crisis. Then a new computer game arrives: StarCraft. At the same time, fast internet is spreading, and little rooms full of computers pop up everywhere. These are PC bangs. Bang means room. By one estimate, there were about 100 in 1997 and around 25,000 by 2011. And StarCraft sold about 4.5 million copies in Korea, roughly half of all its sales worldwide!

Soon, gamers became celebrities. TV channels broadcast StarCraft leagues, and in 2005 about 120,000 people came to Gwangalli Beach in Busan to watch a pro league final. For a computer game! Daebak!

Now look at the Gran Seoul building. Inside is LoL Park, opened by Riot Games in September 2018 as the home arena of the LCK, Korea's League of Legends league. Here's the plot twist: since December 2025, its official name is CHZZK LoL Park, thanks to a sponsor.

Yul's tip! In a PC bang, you pay by the hour at the counter or kiosk, sit at your number, and you can even order ramyeon or tteokbokki to your seat. Wear headphones, don't shout, and clean up. Teenagers have to leave by 10 p.m. For LoL Park, check the LCK schedule online and get tickets before you go. Get off at Jonggak Station, Line 1.

Next, let's find another corner where old Seoul and new Seoul meet. Kaja!