Look, let's be honest: KeSPA’s Sports Fair Committee has just handed down a heavy disciplinary sanction to national team pro-gamer 'Ruler' Park Jae-hyuk.

The committee decided to impose 40 hours of community service and a penalty surcharge of 20,000,000 KRW on Park, citing social controversy stemming from tax-related issues.

Park had previously argued that his father acted as his manager for three years, claiming those labour costs as deductible expenses. The National Tax Service, however, wasn't buying it, citing a lack of objective evidence. Furthermore, stock transactions under his father's name were deemed to be for tax avoidance purposes, resulting in gift tax assessments. Park challenged these levies at the Tax Tribunal, but the dismissal notice was made public last March.

Earlier, the LCK had stated they would not issue separate sanctions, arguing the incident didn't constitute 'criminal activity' or 'immoral conduct/damage to dignity.' Yet, the KeSPA Sports Fair Committee disagreed. After reviewing the player’s documents and conducting an in-person interrogation, they announced the final verdict on the 17th. They determined that as an Asian Games medalist with significant influence over the sport, Park failed to uphold the high level of dignity required of a public figure.

That said, the committee did consider some mitigating factors: Park has paid all assessed taxes in full, returned the borrowed-name stocks, and the matter did not escalate to criminal prosecution. Meanwhile, the LCK secretariat maintains its stance from May 1st, where a unanimous decision by their investigation committee concluded no further action was necessary, citing that the case did not meet their regulatory criteria for criminal or immoral acts and that the statute of limitations for imposing penalties had already expired. Best of luck navigating the fallout.