South Korean Tekken player Jeon “Jeondding” Sang-hyun, who plays for the French esports organisation Team Vitality, shared his experience after being invited to a state dinner hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in honour of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.
In an interview with InvenGlobal, Jeondding revealed that he was in Cologne, Germany, attending an event for Team Vitality when he got the news. According to Jeondding, his team manager Danny sent him a screenshot of a conversation between Team Vitality’s CEO and Co-founder, Fabien “Neo“ Devide, and someone from the French government, who said officials wanted to invite him to the dinner. A formal invitation arrived by email shortly after.
Jeondding said this was his first time attending an event of this kind and that it felt intimidating at first. He noted that having other Korean guests there made it easier to settle in, since he was able to talk with them. At the dinner, Jeondding said he had short conversations with a range of guests. While he identified figures like the head coach of the French national archery team Oh Seon Tek, the CEO of Nexon Junghun Lee, and the President of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Kim Hoe-chun, Jeondding did not mention specific names for several other attendees. As a result, guests such as the head of France’s space agency (possibly François Jacq, Chairman and CEO of the CNES, France’s national space agency), an official from the Korea Creative Content Agency, and a pianist could not be confirmed by exact name.
He also pointed out a small, practical detail about being a pro gamer among more traditional guests: while most attendees exchanged business cards, he didn’t have any of his own to hand out, so he could only receive cards from others.
Jeondding added that he had hoped to introduce himself to the two presidents and explain that he plays for a French esports team but said he was too nervous in the moment and ended up only asking for a photo with them.
A state dinner is a formal event that governments hold to welcome a visiting head of state. Guest lists for these dinners are usually made up of politicians, business leaders, and other high-profile figures, not professional gamers. Jeondding is the first esports player to be invited to one of these events in France.
