Update (6 March 2021):
As announced on Facebook, DWG KIA has dropped two of its players, Yugeun "h3dy" Kwon and Yeongjin "Jaekdow" Jeon, as well as both its coaches, Lim "FanXy" Junhyeok and Kim "DongUk" Dong-uk.
In addition, DWG KIA also announced that it was retaining the trio of Heo "CATsang" Sewoong, Jeon "aLx3inE" Wongyun (aka Chanzo), and Yoo "yass" Sanghoon.
Alongside these changes, DWG KIA also mentioned that its new coach and new "players" will be announced tomorrow, on the 7th of March.
We would like to announce that Lim 'FanXy' Jun-hyuk, Kim 'DongUk' Dong-uk, Kwon 'h3dy' Yu-geun, and Jeon 'JaekDow' Yeong-jin have become free agents. [...] We have renewed a contract (sic) with Jeon 'Chanzo' Wonkyun, Heo 'CATsang' Sewoong, and Yoo 'yass' Sanghoon. Please show these three players who will be leading the Rainbow Six Siege team great support. We will make sure to show you great plays with our new coach and players to be announced tomorrow.
The announcements come as relief to the Korean and APAC scenes, with an end to the sudden and apparent contract dispute now seemingly in sight, just two weeks ahead of the start of the 2021 APAC North Division.
Original:
DWG KIA Looks for New Roster, Fate of Recently-Signed Roster Unclear
Correction: A previous version of this article stated was headlined as "DWG KIA Drops Recently-Signed Roster, Looks for Replacement".
APAC North's newest team of GC Busan Spear (GBS) had been signed by the reigning LoL World Championship-winning organisation DWG KIA in late January. However, after playing just a single official game with its new roster, the organisation has sent out a notice of recruitment for a new roster.
Announced in a Facebook post, the move comes as a shock to observers given the upward trajectory of the former GBS players.
DWG KIA Rainbow Six Siege Team is looking for players to work with. For more information, please refer to the application qualifications and preferential treatment in the post below.
Translation of the Facebook post.
However, eagle-eyed observers had noticed that the players and coaches had removed all mentions of the organisation from their Twitter biographies late last month.
According to SiegeGG sources, the players had been embroiled in a contract dispute with the organisation over allegedly 'undesirable' behaviour of some of its players. However, it is understood that the recently-signed GBS roster wishes to stay with DWG KIA after some back-and-forth.
If DWG KIA so wishes, it can replace the full GBS roster as long as its final roster has two players that played in the top-flight in 2020 or two players that had qualified to the top-flight as the organisation holds the license to the 2021 APAC North slot.
It is currently unclear what will happen to the recently-signed DWG KIA players and if all or just a fraction of them will continue with the organisation.
Of the current DWG KIA players, Yeongjin "Jaekdow" Jeon had previously been involved in controversy while with GC Busan Spear. The organisation had published a written statement in Korean on Facebook, with images of a handwritten apology from the player attached.
Hello, this is Spear Gaming. We bow our head and apologize for causing disappointment to Rainbow Six fans, officials, and players from other teams due to the media literacy problem of our team's players. We urgently held an interview with all of the Rainbow Six Squads on issues that are currently controversial in the community. Through an internal investigation, we confirmed the allegations that JaekDow had used controversial words and actions in the past as an amateur, but the other parts of the claims or incidents that occurred within the Rainbow Six community independently of the parties are actually unfounded, but we recognise there are problems with our team. Spear Gaming takes heavy responsibility for this matter, and has provided media literacy training and appropriate disciplinary measures to players who have been identified to have problems. JaekDow - Regarding his past words and actions: In addition, a personality instructor has been engaged for all of the players to ensure that such problems do not arise again. We will do our best to become mature players in the future by conducting media literacy training. We deeply apologize once again to all Rainbow Six fans, and if you have any additional issues other than the ones identified above, please contact the team at any time and we will check it quickly.
- Internal disciplinary action such as reducing the remaining salary and posting a handwritten apology (handwritten apology will be shared as a separate image)
Translation of the Facebook post.
Check back here for updates on this story as it develops.