Just before the start of this year's LCK regular season, a massive bombshell rocked the entire esports scene. News broke that 'Ruler' Park Jae-hyuk, a star player of the LCK and a recipient of military service exemption following his gold medal win at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, had allegedly been involved in tax evasion.

The core of the issue revolves around labour costs paid to his father over three years starting in 2018 and the nominal trust of stocks in 2023. While Park Jae-hyuk argued that the labour costs should be recognised as expenses and that there was no proven intent to evade taxes regarding the stock trust, the Tax Tribunal did not accept his claims. In a statement released on April 1, the day the tax evasion issue was raised, Park insisted he had no intention of concealing income, a stance his agent echoed. His team, Gen.G, remained largely silent, proceeding with scheduled streams and even deploying 'Ruler' in the LCK regular season.

The LCK secretariat and the Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA), who one would expect to be the arbiters of objective judgement, have stuck to a rather generic response. According to the LCK rulebook, players, agents, and other affiliates are strictly forbidden from illegal activities, and violating tax law is certainly a serious offence. Yet, the matter remains in the investigation phase, with no temporary measures like suspensions applied. Fans are understandably miffed, drawing sharp comparisons to the 2019 disciplinary action against 'Doran', who received a one-game suspension for 'intentional feeding' after a solo queue match with a KDA of 7/15/6. They are calling out the authorities for what they perceive as a sluggish, double-standard response regarding 'Ruler'.

In the end, Gen.G suffered a 1-2 defeat against kt Rolster on April 3. While it is a stretch to claim the tax controversy directly determined the match result, the timing could not be worse. At the start of the season, when players desperately need the full backing of their supporters, such a cloud of controversy is bound to weigh heavily on morale and team atmosphere. To mitigate any further fallout, a swift and decisive judgement from the LCK organisers is needed, and frankly, it is long overdue.