Lee “Rush” Yoon-jae announced during a live stream that he will be officially retiring from streaming. The Counter Logic Gaming streamer pointed towards his mandatory military service in South Korea as the primary reason. Rush is most famous for his extended stint playing for Cloud9 from 2015-2016. He played alongside other Cloud9 big names such as Balls, Hai, Jensen, and Sneaky.
Rush has had an extensive career within the NA League scene and a brief appearance for one season in LoL Champions Korea in 2018. He also notably managed to reach the top of the Korean rank ladder in 2014, 2015, and 2018. He most recently competed professionally for Echo Fox before finally moving to CLG as a streamer.
Mandatory military service is a looming threat that isn't only present for South Korean esports professionals. In 2016, former EU Carry Konstantinos-Napoleon “FORG1VEN” Tzortziou almost had to retire from active competition because of military service. He was eventually granted deferment from his service. FORG1VEN was able to play competitively for two more years before officially taking a break to complete his military service. FORG1VEN is now back in the League of Legends European Championship, but one is left wondering how much the break has affected his career.
National support for esports professionals
Imagine if a world champion had to take a break from the stage for military service. It's already a difficult task to keep on top of the competition. Consequently, it's more difficult to keep your skills sharp for tournaments and events. The difficulty is magnified when you are put into a place where you can't even play. Well earlier this year, South Korean politicians saw to propose a bill to act as a buffer for their country's esports professionals. The prime example for the proposed bill is none other than Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. Under the sanction of the proposed bill, Faker and many other hardworking esports stars will be able to defer their military service until they turn 30. The bill applies only to players from South Korea. This potential law will serve as a signal fire for all other countries to follow.
South Korea seems to hold its most successful children in high regard. The proposed bill from September of 2020 will help professionals focus on their careers. Hopefully, we won't see any unexpected exits from our favorite esports professionals.
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