The Korea e-Sports Industry Association and National Assembly Member Kim Seong-hoe held the '2026 Korea e-Sports Policy Forum' on May 29th at the second sub-conference room of the National Assembly Members' Office Building.

This forum was held under the theme 'e-Sports as Cultural Heritage – From Past Records to Present Future Value.' The intention was to systematically preserve the game records, broadcast footage, memories of players and fandom, stadium cultures, and community materials accumulated by Korea, as the birthplace and leading nation of e-sports, and to pass them down to future generations.

Song Seok-rok, a professor at Kyongdong University, who delivered the keynote address, emphasised that e-sports has already established itself as the representative culture of the digital generation, and that early game footage, replay data, broadcast materials, player equipment, and fandom culture are not merely industrial data but important assets of Korea's digital cultural history.

Professor Song Seok-rok stated, 'Heritage must have a narrative and meet basic conditions such as being original and unique, and it is now time to create value from heritage.' He also proposed adding provisions related to heritage preservation to the e-Sports Promotion Act and argued for the establishment of a national-level recording and preservation system, such as preliminary heritage registration by the National Heritage Agency and a Digital Heritage Museum.

The subsequent presentations focused on the possibility of e-sports heritage preservation linked with the national heritage system. Jang Young-gi, an official from the National Heritage Agency, presented ways to expand the heritage value of e-sports, focusing on national heritage governance and the preliminary cultural heritage system. He explained that even modern cultural assets less than 50 years old can be proactively protected through the preliminary cultural heritage system.

Lee Dong-bum, president of the Korea Society of Heritage Studies, highlighted the historical, social, and industrial value of e-sports through cases of sports industry heritage preservation. He stated that symbolic locations and records like the Gwangalli Pro League finals are representative examples of e-sports' spread into popular culture and could be major candidates for designation as preliminary cultural heritage and the establishment of public archives in the future.

Cho Hyun-joo, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute of Sports Science, stressed that the starting point for e-sports heritage preservation is the establishment of a public recording system for 'what, who, and how to preserve.' She proposed that not only game footage but also patch notes, replays, oral records, fan communities, memes, and fan art should be left as important records constituting the e-sports cultural ecosystem.

Heo Geon-sik, a professor at Seoil University, presented a policy execution roadmap for e-sports preliminary cultural heritage designation, stating that the process should involve value assessment to check against risks of privatization, preliminary heritage designation, preservation and archiving, establishing an industry-culture convergence ecosystem, and strengthening the legal and institutional ecosystem in stages. He emphasised that a public-private joint working group, stable budget allocation, and fund creation are necessary for practical implementation.

Attendees agreed on the necessity of several measures for e-sports heritage preservation, including: ▲Formation of an e-sports heritage working group ▲Conducting surveys and creating inventories ▲Discovering preliminary cultural heritage candidates ▲Building a digital archive ▲Public-private cooperation to resolve intellectual property issues ▲Linking with education, exhibitions, and tourism for utilisation ▲Promoting international standardisation.

The Korea e-Sports Industry Association stated, 'e-Sports heritage preservation is not just about preserving the past; it is a future strategy for Korea to lead the international standards of digital cultural heritage.' They added, 'Building on this forum, we will continue subsequent discussions to preserve and utilise e-sports' historical records and cultural value as public assets.'