The national esports team including superstar Lee Sang-hyeok (fifth from left in front row), aka Faker, on Aug. 25 salutes the national flag at the squad's launching ceremony for this year's Aichi-Nagoya Summer Asian Games in Japan at Cube Convention Center in Seoul's Mapo-gu District. (Yonhap News)

By Yoon Sojung

The national esports team has pledged to sweep all nine medal events at this year's Aichi-Nagoya Summer Asian Games in Japan that start next month.

The Korea e-Sports Association on Aug. 25 held a launching ceremony for the squad at Cube Convention Center in Seoul's Mapo-gu District, Yonhap News and other leading news media reported.

Attendees at the ceremony included the team and its 41 coaches for the nine esports events of the Asiad: the fighting games Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8 and King of Fighters XV; Pokemon Unite, Honor of Kings; League of Legends (LoL); the Asian Games versions of PUBG Mobile and Identity V; Gran Turismo 7; eFootball series; and Puyo Puyo Champions.

This is the second time that esports is an official Asiad event, with the first being in the 2022 edition in Hangzhou, China.

Eleven medals in the nine events are up for grabs at this year's tournament.

The national team seeks to win medals in every event it competes in -- five golds in LoL, fighting games, PUBG Mobile, Gran Turismo 7 and Puyo Puyo Champions; two silvers in eFootball and Pokemon United; and two bronzes in Honor of Kings and Identity V.

"I truly want to achieve great results in Nagoya," said Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, the nation's superstar who won the gold at the 2022 tournament. "Given the high public interest, I definitely want to put on a great performance this time for everyone."

Esports superstar Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok (second from left) on Aug. 25 speaks at the national team's launching ceremony for this year's Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan at Cube Convention Center in Seoul's Mapo-gu District. (Korea e-Sports Association)