Gen.G have secured the services of one of Korea’s top IGL, Chae “yoman” Young-mun, from Nongshim RedForce.
SOUTH KOREA – Gen.G have announced the signing of Chae “yoman” Young-mun on a transfer from Nongshim RedForce. As one of Korea’s top in-game leaders, yoman will join Gen.G for the upcoming 2025 VCT Pacific season, stepping in to fill the gaps left by Kim “Meteor” Tae-o and Kim “Lakia” Jong-min.
The announcement comes even though Nongshim RedForce had already included yoman in their starting lineup for VALORANT Challengers Korea Split 3, just three days after some players left Gen.G. This suggests a change in plans over the past two weeks that led to yoman’s surprising transfer to Gen.G.
However, this signing does bring up some questions since yoman is best known for his IGL experience, having successfully led both Rare Atom and Nongshim RedForce in previous seasons. His arrival overlaps with the role of Byeon “Munchkin” Sang-beom, the team leader who was re-signed for the 2025 season. It remains to be seen whether yoman will take on a leadership role or if his addition will simply offer more strategic options for a squad that will be up against tougher domestic competition from DRX, T1, and Sin Prisa Gaming next season.
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yoman joins Gen.G after spending the 2024 Challengers Korea season with Nongshim RedForce. The team came close to qualifying for Ascension but ultimately fell short against Sin Prisa Gaming, the eventual champions of Ascension Jakarta, losing 2-3 in the grand finals of Challengers Korea Split 2.
Notably, yoman was the highest-rated player in the entire Challengers Korea Split 1 tournament, leading the team as IGL and even surpassing the rating of No “free1ng” Ha-jun, who was recently signed by DRX.
yoman is perhaps best known for his time with China’s Rare Atom during the 2023 season, where he competed alongside the current VCT CN’s JD Gaming roster. At that time, Rare Atom were widely considered the region’s second-best team, reaching the grand finals of the China Evolution Series twice and always facing off against EDward Gaming both times.
However, after yoman’s departure following JD Gaming’s acquisition of the RA roster, the team have experienced a significant downturn that even continues to this day.
As it stands, Gen.G are still one player short ahead of their debut in just three days at the TEN VALORANT Asia Invitational 2024, taking place this weekend on October 26-27.
Gen.G now have:
- 🇰🇷 Kim “t3xture” Na-ra
- 🇰🇷 Kim “Karon” Won-tae
- 🇰🇷 Byeon “Munchkin” Sang-beom
- 🇰🇷 Chae “yoman” Young-mun
- 🇰🇷 Kang “solo” Keun-chul (Head Coach)
- 🇰🇷 Kim “HSK” Hae-seong (Head of Strategy)
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Cover photo courtesy of Nongshim RedForce
