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South Korea’s U-18 Baseball Team Targets First Asian Championship in Eight Years

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • South Korea will seek its first U-18 Asian Baseball Championship title since 2018 at the tournament in Taiwan from October 7-13.
  • The team will face Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand in Group B, beginning with Taiwan on October 7.
  • Captain Eom Jun-sang and top prospect Ha Hyeon-seung expressed confidence after training in hot, rainy conditions in Taoyuan.

South Korea’s under-18 baseball team arrived in Taiwan with a clear goal: end an eight-year wait for an Asian championship gold medal.

Coach Jeong Yun-jin’s squad will compete in the BFA U-18 Asian Baseball Championship in Taipei from October 7 to 13. The team held its first local training session in Taoyuan on September 5, working for about two hours through temperatures near 30 degrees Celsius and heavy, intermittent rain.

South Korean amateur baseball has gone a long time without winning a title, but this time we absolutely want to win the gold medal as one united team.

· Jeong Yun-jinThe South Korea coach described the team’s goal before the tournament.

South Korea is in Group B with Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand. Its opening game against Taiwan on October 7 is expected to set the tone, followed by games against Singapore on October 8 and Thailand on October 9. South Korea won the tournament in 2018, its most recent international title. It finished third at the 2024 Asian championship and fourth at last year’s U-18 Baseball World Cup, behind the United States, Japan and Taiwan.

People say Korean baseball has been losing a lot to Japan and Taiwan, and we want to win this tournament to show that Korean baseball is also growing.

· Eom Jun-sangThe captain explained what the team hopes to demonstrate by winning.

Coach Jeong said, “South Korean amateur baseball has gone a long time without winning a title, but this time we absolutely want to win the gold medal as one united team.” Captain Eom Jun-sang said the players want to show that South Korean baseball is continuing to grow despite concerns about recent losses to Japan and Taiwan.

Eom signed with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks for $1.5 million in June but chose a professional path in the United States rather than the KBO. He can play both pitcher and shortstop. Ha Hyeon-seung, another leading prospect, is widely expected to be the first pick in the 2027 KBO rookie draft. He chose the KBO despite a reported offer of about $3 million from the New York Yankees and said he hopes to move to the United States after developing further.

I thought it would be better to go to the United States after growing a little more.

· Ha Hyeon-seungHe explained why he chose the KBO over a reported offer from the New York Yankees.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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