The Korea Esports Industry Association announced on the 26th that it will hold the '2026 Korea Esports Policy Forum' at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 29th, in collaboration with the Democratic Party's Special Committee on Games.

Under the theme 'Esports as Cultural Heritage - From Past Records to Present Future Value', this forum will discuss the cultural value and policy development directions of Korean esports. It aims to explore policy directions for discovering, recording, and preserving the intangible and tangible cultural assets of esports to develop them into future cultural heritage.

The forum is jointly organized by the Korea Esports Industry Association, the Democratic Party's Special Committee on Games, and the Esports Industry Committee of the Korea Society for Sport Science. Various institutions, including the Cultural Heritage Administration, the Korea Game Policy Society, the Korea Society for Heritage Utilization, and the Korea Esports Association (KeSPA), are participating to publicize the cultural heritage value of esports and discuss its policy feasibility. Given that Korea is the birthplace of esports and has led global esports culture, the objective is to establish policy directions for systematically discovering, recording, preserving, and passing down the accumulated intangible and tangible cultural assets to future generations.

The event is divided into three parts. Part 1 will feature opening remarks by Member of Parliament Kim Sung-hoe, welcoming remarks by Lee Jae-hong, President of the Korea Game Policy Society, and congratulatory speeches by MPs Kim Seung-soo and Im O-kyung, and KeSPA President Kim Young-man. Following this, Song Seok-rok, Professor at Kyongdong University, will deliver the keynote speech on 'The Inevitability of Esports Becoming Cultural Heritage'.

Part 2 will focus on discussing concrete policy directions and execution strategies for making esports cultural heritage. Jang Young-ki, an official from the Cultural Heritage Administration, will present on 'National Heritage Governance and Strategies for Spreading the Heritage Value of Esports,' while Lee Dong-bum, President of the Korea Society for Heritage Utilization, will speak on 'The Heritage Value of Esports as Seen Through Successful Cases of Sports Industry Heritage.' Jo Hyun-joo, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Sport Science, will present on 'Classification and Recording Strategies for Tangible and Intangible Esports Heritage,' and Huh Keon-shik, Professor at Seoil University, will propose 'The Preliminary Heritage System for Esports and a Post-Policy Execution Roadmap.'

The discussion in Part 3 will be moderated by Professor Jo Hyun-rae of Yongin University, with participation from Kang Seok-hoon (Curator, Cultural Heritage Administration), Park Dae-seung (Head of Production, OGN), Kim Cheol-hak (Secretary General, KeSPA), Kim Se-yoon (Professor, Dankook University), and Shim Tae-young (Professor, Jungbu University). They will engage in in-depth discussions on the necessity of esports cultural heritage, practical challenges, and policy support measures.

The Korea Esports Industry Association stated, 'The heritage of esports is a crucial task for Korea to lead cultural heritage in the digital age and pass down new cultural assets to future generations.' They added that this forum aims to create an opportunity for esports to establish itself as a public cultural asset with educational, social, and economic value.