Kim Dong Hwan, known to fans of competitive Starcraft II as “Violet”, has been given a visa to live, work and compete in the United States.
TheDailyDot reports that Violet is the first Starcraft pro to be given this opportunity to escape Korean military service. This is the end of along journey for Kim, as he had been denied visas previously, which caused him to forfeit three major eSports events. Kim went through many trails and tests to get to this point, even facing the prospect of being permanently barred from the US if the proper legal documents weren’t provided.
Kim himself is obviously overjoyed – the 23-year-old pro gamer has dreams of becoming an American citizen, and now that he has the go-ahead to live and work in the US for the next 5 years, it appears he’s on step closer to that goal.
What do you think? Can other eSports pros follow suit? Let us know in the comments below.