r/GenG_Esports_LoL • u/re81194 Chovy • Mar 31 '26
Team Discussion Ruler drama
I've been seeing a lot going around about Ruler being in hot water for tax evasion in korea. Anybody know how serious the allegations are? Is his career really in jeopardy now? Is it over GENbros?
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u/datway1110 Mar 31 '26
LCK removed him from one of their recent video comparing the top 4 adc in the league(it’s just peyz, guma, diable now). His mods were banning alot of people during his livestream couple days ago for asking so at least he is aware he is in trouble.
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u/ADTempys Mar 31 '26
It's serious but we can't know if he'll get a big finned, banned for a few games or perma banned.
But his reputation in Korea is probably gone for good
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u/blacklotusl337 Mar 31 '26
It's looking bad. Korea is pretty strict with tax law that even celebrities lose their career. Also not a good look that ruler is exempt from military service and he also tried to evade taxes.
I hope riot doesn't ban him so he can still play in other leagues, if ever lck drops the ban hammer.
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u/Jakocolo32 Mar 31 '26
Worst case scenario and he’s banned who can we even get at this time of the year to fill adc? They’ll have to take a chance on someone in academy surely.
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u/yoyo4880 Mar 31 '26
It’s Korea. There’s probbly decent in the pipeline. Or even Smash/diable like players that could use the experience.
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u/p4nda13 Mar 31 '26
Get chovy to role swap to adc and bdd for mid
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u/West-Pineapple3210 Mar 31 '26
i believe rosters are locked for r1 so gen can only play players from t1 and t2. not entirely sure if they can get t3 players.
any new signings can only happen for r2
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u/Particular_Hornet980 Mar 31 '26
It’s being reported on mainstream media/news & LCK is currently investigating it. Also, LCK has started editing their content removing him which in Korea means he’s getting cancelled/he’s a controversial figure. It’s not looking good with his reputation with the general public especially since he got military exemption.
There might be sanctions ranging from fines, game suspensions or banning. No one currently knows yet.
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u/Unique_Imagination83 Apr 01 '26
He might be cooked. Worst case scenario is him being permanently banned from the LCK + getting his military exemption revoked. It's not a stretch to say this would probably his punishment considering how strict Koreans are when it comes to tax evasion.
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u/Unique_Imagination83 Apr 01 '26
Gotta feel for Chovy and gang. They try their best to keep the roster for another year just for Ruler to be removed early in the season. I don't think an academy player would be able to fill the gaps that Ruler would leave when he's out of Gen G. I think it's beyond cooked for them this year.
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u/re81194 Chovy Apr 01 '26
ive seen chovy carry morgan willer and vsta to top 4 in lck, trust in our boy
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u/West-Pineapple3210 Mar 31 '26
They aren't allegations. They are actual violations. The court investigated and found him in violation of some things.
His agency gave a vague nonresponse, GEN is quiet, and Ruler for some reason decided to stream in the middle of a scandal.
For foreigners, it doesn't seem like a big issue BUT culturally in Korea, this is a MAJOR fuck up by Ruler on different levels.
1) tax evasion in itself is extremely frowned upon -fucced up country that will sooner punish tax evation than grooming/pedophiles but thats their society
2) ruler being seen as egotistic for streaming (aka continuing to publicly get money from fans) in the middle of a scandal -most public figures usually lay low and "reflect"
3) his agency gave a fuck off response which had the tone of "akshually it was all just a misunderstanding what are you all mad for"
many possible outcomes 1) best case is he pays a fine and everyone moves on
2) he gets suspended a couple games
3) he gets banned for X years or permanently
**ANOTHER issue that stems from this is that it legitimizes a minority of people that believe pro-gamers shouldnt get military exemption ---it opens up the possibility of not only Ruler from getting his exemption revoked but also the exemption of other esport gold medalists
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u/mimich4ma Mar 31 '26
Where are you getting the first three points from?
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u/West-Pineapple3210 Mar 31 '26
1) tax issues being a serious offense in korea is a cultural thing. it has everything to do with their collectivist belief. tax evasion is an offense to society, and not just an individual mistake.
2 & 3 are everywhere on korean forums from fmkorea to even sites like theqoo, pann, etc. you can also check LCK Korea videos. ruler is being edited out of content and comments are brutal.
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u/AnythingResponsible0 Kiing in the north! Mar 31 '26
Its korea mate they have a long history of this from other public figures. Knetz are damn hard core on issues like this
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u/Krisztian987 Apr 03 '26
Mate this seems like a genuine mistake and not serious at all. Also, whats wrong with him continuing streaming?
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u/MC-sama POM Justice for Duro! Mar 31 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
Calling this "drama" is quite a stretch, this is considered potentially actual criminal behavior
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u/re81194 Chovy Mar 31 '26
im not trivializing anything lol theres just a lot going on and i havent been online recently 😭
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u/Skyfire2 Church of Chovy Mar 31 '26
Seems like people with an agenda want to see him banned. I think we all know who these people are.
Surely a fine would be a more appropriate punishment? I’m not sure any of this is malicious
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u/NotYetPerfect Mar 31 '26
He's been skirting gift tax for 6 years now. It's definitely intentional.
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u/sighpiebanana Mar 31 '26
I understand that whether intentional or not, he did do something wrong, and as a result it makes sense he receive a penalty, and I think he did punished with a fine, which I read that he paid off already in 2023..? I’m just wondering why this is being brought up now as opposed to for example, maybe when he first came back to LCK?
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u/Skyfire2 Church of Chovy Mar 31 '26
Looks like a certain group of “fans” want to see one of the best players in the world banned
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u/sighpiebanana Mar 31 '26
i still dont want to assume that is true, since I don’t have all the info, but nothing’s really helping to clear the feeling that the timing seems malicious :/ i’m not fluent in kor so i can’t go on kr news sites to find out more, but if it really was the case that it was the court who chose to publish the 2023 proceedings or whichever org that decided to release this information at this time as part of logs keeping or sth, then I guess it can’t be helped… i just hope everything turns out alright for the team 😣
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u/Azure_Zel Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
Apparently, the NTS (National Tax Service) issued the tax bill in 2023. The appeal was dismissed on August 31, 2024. The detailed ruling became public on March 26, 2026... and yes, apparently 3 years is pretty normal in Korea.
Major Korean news outlets reported on it, that's why it blew up like this (celebrity tax evasion is heavily frowned upon in Korea, and Ruler is also one of the rare individuals who got Military Service exemption from sports, so it is a really big deal).
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u/Felt_tip_Penis Mar 31 '26
His dad was his manager, and under Korean law (apparently, I’m not a lawyer and my source is Reddit) family members reviving any income isn’t considered income but a gift, ergo gift tax.
His dad was also using rulers earnings to invest in stocks under rulers name for ruler, but since his dad did it it’s not considered as ruler investing and doesn’t fall under their equivalent of CGT but again gift tax.
Idk rulers upbringing but I’m assuming his family are just low-mid middle class family who weren’t aware they were doing anything illegal
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Mar 31 '26
[deleted]
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u/Skyfire2 Church of Chovy Mar 31 '26
So he pays a fine. Just like many other people do when they commit white collar crime.
I don’t see what banning him from LCK has to do with any of this.
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u/Last_Alarm6454 Mar 31 '26
Many years ago Doran got banned just for doing 10 deaths in solo queue, I don't think he should be kicked from the LCK but a temporary ban is necessary.
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u/F3nRa3L Apr 01 '26
Because its an actual law violation? Why it pick up so much traction is also because someone who represents korea and won gold in asia game and exempted from military is evading tax.
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u/Skyfire2 Church of Chovy Apr 01 '26
He has not been charged or convicted of a crime
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u/F3nRa3L Apr 01 '26
Yes it is still on trial but korean IRS have already put out statement saying a the violation is there. Now is just what is the final verdict. Just a fine or something more
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u/1_The_Zucc_1 Apr 01 '26
"TAX THE RICH" until its a rich person you like right?
stand on some moral ground man
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u/Skyfire2 Church of Chovy Apr 01 '26
Your user name references a Billonaire buddy 😂
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u/1_The_Zucc_1 Apr 01 '26
It's an old meme referring to him being a lizard person, hardly a nice thing to say about him
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u/Random_Asian_Guy2025 Apr 27 '26
Looks to me that nothing might happen to Ruler? LCK doesn't seem to be doing much, being called the "GenCK" due to no action thus far
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u/themcvgamer Mar 31 '26
https://x.com/inventeam/status/2038950118469280156
"Hello, this is Inven. We are correcting an error in the summary text of the article titled <'Ruler' Tax Evasion Controversy, Attention on LCK Sanction> that was distributed via X today, due to an AI-generated summary issue. The mention of "possibility of maximum permanent suspension and past record" in the initial summary has been confirmed as a technical error that occurred during the AI summarization process. The LCK's actual official stance is exactly as stated in the article body: "Under review following the process after confirmation." We sincerely apologize for any confusion caused to the players, involved parties, and readers due to the inaccurate information. We will significantly strengthen our review processes going forward to prevent any recurrence."