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South Korea national baseball team

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South Korea national baseball team
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The South Korean national baseball team (Korean: 대한민국 야구 국가대표팀), also known as the Blue Wave (Korean: 푸른물결), is the national baseball team of South Korea. It has participated in every edition of the World Baseball Classic (WBC), reaching the finals in 2009, and won the WBSC Premier12 in 2015. South Korea also hosted and won the Baseball World Cup in 1982, and has participated in several Summer Olympic Games (winning gold over Cuba in 2008).

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Currently, South Korean baseball is ranked sixth in the WBSC World Rankings. South Korea's main rival is Japan, which it has met in several WBC, Olympic, and Asian Baseball Championship games.

Team South Korea will compete in the 2026 World Baseball Classic in March 2026.

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History

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Kim Jae-bak scores for Korea at the 1976 Haarlem Baseball Week.

South Korea was a founding member of the Baseball Federation of Asia in 1954.[2] It played at the inaugural Asian Baseball Championship in Manila, which was also the team's first meeting with archrival Japan (suffering an 0–6 loss).[3][4] Korea won its first victory in the rivalry nine years later, defeating Japan 5–2 at the 1963 Asian Baseball Championship in Seoul.[3]

South Korea debuted at the 1976 Amateur World Series. With the country hosting the 1982 Amateur World Series, the South Korean team scored a dramatic victory over Japan when, trailing 0–2 in the bottom of the eighth, Kim Jae-bak hit a three-run homer off a foul pole. South Korea became the first Asian country to win the amateur baseball competition, finishing with an 8–1 record.[3]

2000 Sydney Olympics

Since the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, professional baseball players have been permitted to play and the South Korean team that was formed was often called the "Korean Dream Team". This team won the bronze medal.. At that time, the top four teams (Cuba, United States, South Korea and Japan) advanced to the semi-finals. In the semi-final game, the South Koreans faced the United States team and lost. In the bronze medal match, the South Koreans played against the Japanese and won the game 3–1.[5][6][7][8]

2008 Beijing Olympics

After losing 4–3 to Japan at the 2007 Asian Baseball Championships, the South Koreans finished with a 2–1 record and were forced to seek entrance to the 2008 Olympics via the Final Olympic Qualifying Tournament to be held March 7–14, 2008 in Taichung, Taiwan.[9]

The South Korean roster, for the qualifying, is mainly professional players from the Korea Baseball Organization and is not subjected to the scheduling conflicts that troubled the teams from Australia, Canada, and Mexico.[10]

Going into the tournament rated by the experts as an outsider, or a dark horse at most, South Korea surprised everybody by finishing the group stage in first place with a perfect 7–0 record. The team began its run with come from behind win against heavily favored United States, scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning with a sacrifice fly. Disappointment soon followed the next game, however, as China (undeniably the weakest team in the tournament) stymied South Korea for most of the game before the game was suspended because of rain in the 6th inning with a 0–0 score. South Korea bounced back the following day with a tightly contested 1–0 victory over Canada, with Ryu Hyun-Jin recording a complete-game shutout. After dispatching their rivals Japan 5–3 in the next game, South Korea finished off China in the continuation of the aforementioned suspended game by winning 1–0 in the extra innings. South Korea then clinched their place in the final four by beating Chinese Taipei 9–8, followed by another surprise victory over heavily favored Cubans, 7–4 (which guaranteed them finishing first place in the group round). The team finished their Round Robin Tournament in style, hammering the Netherlands 10–0 and beating them on mercy rule.

In the Semifinal match, the team was once again matched up against their arch-rivals Japan. The first half of the game was very tight as Japan was leading 2–1 going into the 7th inning. South Korea soon tied the ballgame at 2 apiece in the bottom half, then took the lead in the 8th thanks in large part to Lee Seung-Yeop's clutch 2-run home run. South Korea added 2 more runs that inning. South Korea eventually ended with a 6–2 victory. In the finals they overcame the perennial favorites Cuba for the second time in the tournament, surviving a bases-loaded 9th inning situation with a double play to win the game 3–2, allowing South Korea to obtain their gold medal for Baseball. South Korea also earned 12 other gold medals during the Olympics making them the second highest gold medalist country after China in Asia.[11][12]

2006 World Baseball Classic

The South Korean team playing in the 2006 World Baseball Classic included not just South Korean players based in South Korea, but South Korean players in the U.S. from Major League Baseball. In the Classic, the team played in and won every game they played in Pool A. They advanced to round two, again winning all three games to secure a place in the semifinals. Upon reaching the semifinals, the South Korean government announced that it would waive for the players on the team the mandatory two-year military service required of all young South Korean men. However, at the semifinals, the South Korean team lost to Japan, whom they had beaten twice previously. This led to controversy over the regulations of the WBC concerning the fact that South Korea had to face Japan three times and that it was Japan that was allowed to go to the finals, when it had four victories and three losses up to that point, two of those losses to South Korea, while the South Korean team, which had only one loss and had already beaten Japan twice, was eliminated from the finals.

2009 World Baseball Classic

South Korea competed in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, playing the first round in Pool A in Tokyo. South Korea opened the tournament with a 7–0 rout of Chinese Taipei. South Korea then lost to Japan in a 14–2 contest shortened to 7 innings by the WBC's early termination rule. In its third game, South Korea soundly defeated China 14–0 in a similarly shortened contest, securing advancement to the second round and ousting China from the tournament. South Korea won the final Pool A game by a 1–0 win over Japan in order to advance as the Pool A winner. In Pool 1, the round 2 of the WBC, South Korea beat Mexico 8–2 and then went on to beat Japan again 4–1, securing advancement to the semifinals. South Korea beat Venezuela 10–2 to secure a spot on the finals. In the final game however, South Korea lost to Japan 5–3.[13]

2013 World Baseball Classic

South Korea competed in the 2013 World Baseball Classic for the third time, playing the first round in Pool B at the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan, facing the Netherlands, Chinese Taipei and Australia. The Korean team lost the first game against the Netherlands 5–0, but won two next games against Chinese Taipei and Australia. Despite this, South Korea was eliminated in the first round for the first time since advancing to the semi-finals in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. However, even after elimination, South Korea earned their direct qualification to the upcoming 2017 World Baseball Classic.

2015 WBSC Premier12

Team South Korea won the 2015 WBSC Premier12 Tournament.

2017 World Baseball Classic

South Korea lost the first game in the first round to surprising newcomers Israel, 2–1 in 10 innings.[14] They also lost their second game against the Netherlands 5–0. They were eliminated for the second time ever, after their poor performance at the 2013 World Baseball Classic, as Israel and the Netherlands advanced to the next round. South Korea took third place in the pool, as it beat Taiwan in 10 innings, 11–8.[15][16]

South Korea is facing Israel, the Netherlands, and Taiwan in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.[17]

2019 WBSC Premier12

Team South Korea came in second in the 12-team 2019 WBSC Premier12 Tournament, which was held in November 2019. Two quota spots were allocated from the Tournament, of the spots for six baseball teams at the 2020 Olympic Games, with South Korea qualifying as the top finisher from the Asia/Oceana territory (other than Japan, which already qualified as host).[18]

2023 World Baseball Classic

In January 2020, the WBC announced the 16 national teams which participated at the 2017 World Baseball Classic, which included South Korea, will automatically qualify for the tournament.[19]

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Results and fixtures

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The following is a list of professional baseball match results currently active in the latest version of the WBSC World Rankings, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.[20]

Legend

  Win   Lose   Void or postponed   Fixture

2019

Asian Championship GS October 14 South Korea  4–5 (F/10)  China Taichung Stadium, Taiwan
12:00 NST Boxscore Attendance: 200
Asian Championship GS October 15 Pakistan  1–12 (F/7)  South Korea Douliu Stadium, Taiwan
12:00 NST Boxscore Attendance: 350
Asian Championship GS October 16 Philippines  2–12 (F/7)  South Korea Douliu Stadium, Taiwan
12:00 NST Boxscore Attendance: 166
Asian Championship SR October 18 South Korea  1–7  Chinese Taipei Taichung Stadium, Taiwan
18:30 NST Boxscore Attendance: 1,250
Asian Championship SR October 19 South Korea  3–11  Japan Taichung Stadium, Taiwan
12:00 NST Boxscore Attendance: 362
Asian Championship 3rd October 20 South Korea  6–8  China Taichung Stadium, Taiwan
12:00 NST Boxscore Attendance: 0
WBSC Premier12 GS November 6 Australia  0–5  South Korea Gocheok Dome, South Korea
19:00 KST Boxscore Attendance: 5,899
WBSC Premier12 GS November 7 South Korea  3–1  Canada Gocheok Dome, South Korea
19:00 KST Boxscore Attendance: 6,000
WBSC Premier12 GS November 8 Cuba  0–7  South Korea Gocheok Dome, South Korea
19:00 KST Boxscore Attendance: 13,600
WBSC Premier12 SR November 11 United States  1–5  South Korea Tokyo Dome, Japan
19:00 JT Boxscore Attendance: 3,012
WBSC Premier12 SR November 12 Chinese Taipei  7–0  South Korea ZOZO Marine Stadium, Japan
19:00 JT Boxscore Attendance: 4,056
WBSC Premier12 SR November 15 Mexico  3–7  South Korea Tokyo Dome, Japan
19:00 JT Boxscore Attendance: 5,121
WBSC Premier12 SR November 16 South Korea  8–10  Japan Tokyo Dome, Japan
19:00 JT Boxscore Attendance: 44,224
WBSC Premier12 F November 17 South Korea  3–5  Japan Tokyo Dome, Japan
19:00 JT Boxscore Attendance: 44,960

2021

Summer Olympics GS July 29 Israel  5–6 (F/10)  South Korea Yokohama Stadium, Japan
19:00 JT LP: Jeremy Bleich
HR: Ian Kinsler (1), Ryan Lavarnway (2)
Boxscore WP: Oh Seung-hwan
HR: Oh Ji-hwan (1), Lee Jung-hoo (1), Hyun-soo Kim (1)
Attendance: 0
Summer Olympics GS July 31 South Korea  2–4  United States Yokohama Stadium, Japan
19:00 JT LP: Ko Young-pyo
Boxscore WP: Nick Martinez
Sv: David Robertson
HR: Triston Casas (1), Nick Allen (1)
Attendance: 0
Summer Olympics R1 August 1 Dominican Republic  3–4  South Korea Yokohama Stadium, Japan
19:00 JT LP: Luis Felipe Castillo
HR: Juan Francisco (1)
Boxscore WP: Oh Seung-hwan
Attendance: 0
Summer Olympics R2 August 2 Israel  1–11 (F/7)  South Korea Yokohama Stadium, Japan
12:00 JT LP: Joey Wagman
Boxscore WP: Cho Sang-woo
HR: Oh Ji-hwan (2), Hyun-soo Kim (2)
Attendance: 0
Summer Olympics SF August 4 South Korea  2–5  Japan Yokohama Stadium, Japan
19:00 JT LP: Go Woo-suk
Boxscore WP: Hiromi Itoh
Sv: Ryoji Kuribayashi (2)
Attendance: 0
Summer Olympics SFR August 5 South Korea  2–7  United States Yokohama Stadium, Japan
19:00 JT LP: Lee Eui-lee
Boxscore WP: Ryder Ryan
HR: Jamie Westbrook
Attendance: 0
Summer Olympics 3rd August 7 Dominican Republic  10–6  South Korea Yokohama Stadium, Japan
12:00 JT WP: Cristopher Mercedes
Sv: Jumbo Díaz (1)
HR: Juan Francisco (2), Julio Rodríguez (1), Johan Mieses (2)
Boxscore LP: Oh Seung-hwan
HR: Hyun-soo Kim (3)
Attendance: 0

2023

World Baseball Classic GS March 9 Australia  8–7  South Korea Tokyo Dome, Japan
12:00 JT WP: Jon Kennedy (1–0)
Sv: Josh Guyer (1)
HR: Tim Kennelly (1), Robbie Glendinning (1), Robbie Perkins (1)
Boxscore LP: Kim Won-jung (0–1)
HR: Yang Eui-ji (1)
Umpires: HP – Ramon De Jesus, 1B – Fabrizio Fabrizzi, 2B – Adam Hamari, 3B – Chan-Jung Chang
World Baseball Classic GS March 10 South Korea  4–13  Japan Tokyo Dome, Japan
19:00 JT LP: Kwang-hyun Kim (0–1)
HR: Yang Eui-ji (2), Park Kun-woo (1)
Boxscore WP: Yu Darvish (1–0)
HR: Kensuke Kondo (1)
Attendance: 41,629
Umpires: HP: Laz Díaz, 1B: Stu Scheurwater, 2B: Delfin Colon, 3B: Cuti Suárez
World Baseball Classic GS March 12 Czech Republic  3–7  South Korea Tokyo Dome, Japan
12:00 JT LP: Lukas Ercoli (0–1)
Boxscore WP: Park Se-woong (1–0)
Sv: Lee Yong-chan (1)
HR: Ha-seong Kim (2)
Umpires: HP – Delfin Colon, 1B – Laz Diaz, 2B – Fabrizio Fabrizzi, 3B – Ben May
World Baseball Classic GS March 13 South Korea  22–2 (F/5)  China Tokyo Dome, Japan
19:00 JT WP: Hyeong Jun So (1–0)
HR: Park Kun-woo (2), Ha-seong Kim (3)
Boxscore LP: Alan Carter (0–1)
Attendance: 14,142
Umpires: HP – Stu Scheurwater, 1B – Adam Hamari, 2B – Chan-Jung Chang, 3B – Cuti Suarez

2024

Friendly November 1 Cuba  0-2  South Korea Gocheok Dome, South Korea
18:35 KST LP: Yoennis Yera
WP: Kim Taek-yeon
Sv: Park Yeong-hyun
Attendance: 15,783
Friendly November 2 South Korea  13-3  Cuba Gocheok Dome, South Korea
14:00 KST WP: Ko Young-pyo
HR: Yoon Dong-hee (1)
LP: Yusniel Padron
HR: Yoelkis Guibert (1)
Attendance: 16,100
WBSC Premier12 GS November 13 South Korea  3-6  Chinese Taipei Taipei Dome, Taiwan
18:30 NST LP: Ko Young-pyo
HR: Na Seung-yeop (1)
Boxscore WP: Chang Yi
Sv: Wu Chun-Wei
HR: Chen Chen-Wei (1), Chen Chieh-hsien (1)
Attendance: 39,000
WBSC Premier12 GS November 14 Cuba  4-8  South Korea Tianmu Baseball Stadium, Taiwan
18:00 NST LP: Liván Moinelo
HR: Yoelkis Guibert (1), Rafael Viñales(1)
Boxscore WP: So Hyeong-jun
HR: Kim Do-yeong (2)
Attendance: 2,225
WBSC Premier12 GS November 15 South Korea  3-6  Japan Taipei Dome, Taiwan
18:00 NST LP: Kwak Do-kyu
HR: Park Dong-won (1)
Boxscore WP: Chihiro Sumida
Sv: Taisei Ota
HR: Shōta Morishita (1)
Attendance: 20,028
WBSC Premier12 GS November 16 Dominican Republic  6-9  South Korea Tianmu Baseball Stadium, Taiwan
18:30 NST LP: Diego Castillo
HR: Arismendy Alcántara (1)
Boxscore WP: Park Yeong-hyun
Attendance: 3,387
WBSC Premier12 GS November 18 Australia  2-5  South Korea Tianmu Baseball Stadium, Taiwan
12:00 NST LP: Steven Kent
Boxscore WP: So Hyeong-jun
Sv: Park Yeong-hyun
HR: Kim Do-yeong (1)
Attendance: 1,799

2025

Friendly November 15 South Korea   Japan Tokyo Dome, Japan
Friendly November 16 South Korea   Japan Tokyo Dome, Japan

2026

World Baseball Classic GS March 5 Czech Republic   South Korea Tokyo Dome, Japan
World Baseball Classic GS March 7 South Korea   Japan Tokyo Dome, Japan
World Baseball Classic GS March 8 Chinese Taipei   South Korea Tokyo Dome, Japan
World Baseball Classic GS March 9 South Korea   Australia Tokyo Dome, Japan
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Tournament record

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World Baseball Classic


South Korea roster – 2017 World Baseball Classic roster
PlayersCoaches
Pitchers
Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

Coaches


Olympic Games

More information Summer Olympics record, Qualification record ...
  1. No medals awarded; tournament was a demonstration sport only
  2. Totals only include years 1992 to 2020, during which baseball was an official medal sport.

WBSC Premier12

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Asian Games

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2010 Asian Games

2010 Asian Games Baseball was held in Guangzhou, China from November 13 to 19, 2010. Only a men's competition was held. All games were played at the Aoti Baseball Field. South Korea beat Chinese Taipei 9–3 in the final to win the gold medal.

2014 Asian Games

2014 Asian Games Baseball was held in Incheon, South Korea from September 22 to 28, 2014. All games were played at the Munhak Baseball Stadium and Mokdong Baseball Stadium. South Korea beat Chinese Taipei 6–3 in the final to win the gold medal.[21]

Other tournaments

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Asian Baseball Championship

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Players

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Chanho Park

Roster

The following players were called up to participate in the 2023 World Baseball Classic:

Manager
South Korea Lee Kang-chul
Coaches
South Korea Kim Ki-tai, Jong Hyun-wook, Kim Min-jae, Kim Min-ho, Bae Young-soo, Shim Jae-hak, Jin Kab-yong
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Roster list

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Notable record

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See also

References

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