South Korea finished as the runner-up at the 'PUBG Nations Cup (PNC) 2026' Grand Finals, held over three days from the 26th to the 28th at Jangchung Arena in Seoul, with a total of 119 points. They trailed the champion, Brazil, by just 5 points. Although South Korea displayed impressive firepower on the final day, they were unable to overcome the large deficit built up over the first two days.

After the tournament, Coach Kim 'PLIKHE' Sung-min met with the press and summarized the journey: "Honestly, a 20-point gap with five matches remaining is quite substantial. Before today's matches started, I even thought that finishing second wouldn't be bad, but now that we've actually finished second, it feels incredibly disappointing. It hits differently than last year."

When asked about the strategic approach to closing the 20-point gap against Brazil, Coach Kim replied, "I knew many teams would play more aggressively on the final day of PNC, leading to frequent skirmishes. We aimed to maximize positional advantages, and if that wasn't possible, we decided to make quick decisions and move without hesitation. We executed those quick rotations in the first match today, and we capitalized on our positioning well in Match 14 on Rondo."

Regarding how he kept the players composed while chasing the lead, he said, "During matches 11 and 12, we closed the gap significantly, which could have made the players overly excited. I told them that to win, we couldn't just focus on Brazil. I emphasized that we needed to look at the game broadly and stick to our preparation. The players focused on that, and I don't think they were overly nervous."

Finally, Coach Kim smiled and said, "I never expected that Brazil, who helped us win the year before last, would be the ones to take the title from us this time." He concluded the interview with a vow: "It seems this PNC really kept the fans on an emotional rollercoaster. I'm sorry we couldn't give you a win at the end. It pained me to see the fans feeling even more disappointed than I was. If we get another good opportunity next time, we will definitely win."