Taipei’s City Mayor Jokingly Says He’d Be Happy To ‘Kill’ Korean eSports Teams

I’m all for a bit of banter here and there — but it’s not every day that the city mayor of Taipei joins the act.

It’s a direct quote from The China Post, who reported earlier this month on remarks during a speech from Ko Wen-je, the Taipei City Mayor. The mayor was addressing approximately 500 people, according to the wire service, who were present to watch a live broadcast of the League of Legends World Championships.

Wearing a Teemo hat at the time, Ko said the best thing about watching an eSports event was “when I see our team trounce its rival from another country”. “Whatever it takes to ‘kill’ Korean teams is, I’d be more than happy to do,” the mayor added.

“To you guys this is a game. To Taipei City this is an industry to which I intend to give all assistance necessary to stage an international competition here,” Ko went on to say in front of the crowd.

By the way: he was wearing a Teemo hat when he said it. Here’s a really low-res pic of a city mayor wearing a Teemo hat.

Image courtesy of Want China Times

Meetings have since been held in Taipei between the video game industry, the Taiwan Electronic Sports League (TesL) and government departments about recognising video games as a sport. A report from New0.net has appeared online today that appears — via a rough translation — to suggest that Taiwan has become the sixth country in the world to officially recognise eSports, although a proper translation is not currently available.