Video game tournament to raise money for North Korean refugees

By Eric Diep

To raise funds for rescuing North Korean refugees, a University student video game league is hosting its first benefit tournament, “StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty,” tomorrow afternoon.

Liberty in North Korea UO, in association with the Multicultural Center, will use video games as a gateway for educating registered players about the humanitarian crisis in North Korea. LiNK UO is a student chapter of LiNK Global, a grassroots organization focused on spreading awareness through stories of North Korean refugees affected by starvation, imprisonment and human rights abuse. The partnership with the Multicultural Center plays an integral part of LiNK UO’s mission, assisting the chapter with a place for meetings as well as arranging its event locations.

“We try to be independent as much as we can,” said Luke Larsen, codirector of LiNK UO. “It’s really good to have a connection with the Multicultural Center.”

Currently, the ASUO does not fund LiNK UO, but Larsen said he hopes the consistency of planning fundraising events that go directly toward North Korean refugees can “turn into something more permanent.” The chapter has already hosted a number of benefits, ranging from documentary screenings to a music concert. For this particular benefit, Larsen introduced the real-time strategy game, popular in South Korea, as a friendly battle between avid gamers for a good cause.

“You’re not just playing video games,” Larsen said. “You’re helping people.”

University sophomore Adrian de Leon, coordinator for the University’s StarCraft II league within the Collegiate StarLeague, has encouraged many of his teammates to participate. de Leon says the opportunity for a StarCraft II local area network multiplayer competition has drawn “quite a bit of interest.”

“There’s a nice connection between StarCraft and Korea,” de Leon said. “As far as a StarCraft tournament, it really connects with the cause of LiNK.”

Students in Oregon State University’s StarCraft II league will be making the trip from Corvallis to Eugene to play in the tournament. Oregon State junior Charles Catino, president of the OSU Gaming Club, said the trip is for a combination of charity and competition.

“The reason people are going is because people want to play StarCraft,” Catino said. “(People) are willing to pay a few bucks to get in, and to help someone is a bonus.”

LiNK UO has already received donations and prizes from local shops Nostalgia Collectibles and Big City Gamin’. The chapter has also seen an increase of new people interested in their cause. With the cost of freeing a refugee approximately $2,500, Larsen hopes the chapter can reach this goal. So far, LiNK UO has collected about $1,800 from donators.

“These people are sitting in these places waiting for the money to come in.” Larsen said. “That is where the sort of urgency is for our fundraiser to demonstrate towards those people.”

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