| South Korea national baseball team | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Information | |
| Country |  South Korea |
| Federation | Korea Baseball Softball Association |
| Confederation | Baseball Federation of Asia |
| Manager | Ryu Ji-hyun(2025–present) |
| Captain | Song Sung-mun |
| WBSC ranking | |
| Current | 4 (11 November 2025)[1] |
| Highest | 2 (first in August 2021) |
| Lowest | 8 (first in December 2014) |
| Uniforms | |
 | |
| World Baseball Classic | |
| Appearances | 5 (first in2006) |
| Best result |  2nd (2009) |
| Olympic Games | |
| Appearances | 4 (first in1996) |
| Best result |  Gold: 1 -2008 |
| WBSC Premier12 | |
| Appearances | 2 (first in2015) |
| Best result |  1st (1 time, in2015) |
| World Cup | |
| Appearances | 14 (first in1976) |
| Best result |  1st (1982) |
| Intercontinental Cup | |
| Appearances | 14 (first in1975) |
| Best result | 1st (1977) |
| Asian Games | |
| Appearances | 7 (first in1994) |
| Best result |  1st (5:1998,2002,2010,2014,2018)2023) |
| Asian Championship | |
| Appearances | 27 (first in1954) |
| Best result | 1st (8:1963,1971,1975,1983,1989,1997,1999,2015) |
TheSouth Korean national baseball team (Korean:대한민국 야구 국가대표팀), also known as theBlue Wave (Korean:푸른물결), is the nationalbaseball team ofSouth Korea. It has participated in every edition of theWorld Baseball Classic (WBC), reaching thefinals in2009, and won theWBSC Premier12 in2015. South Korea also hosted and won theBaseball World Cup in1982, and has participated in severalSummer Olympic Games (winninggold overCuba in 2008).
Currently, South Korean baseball is ranked sixth in theWBSC World Rankings. South Korea'smain rival isJapan, which it has met in several WBC, Olympic, andAsian Baseball Championship games.
Team South Korea will compete in the2026 World Baseball Classic in March 2026.
South Korea was a founding member of theBaseball Federation of Asia in 1954.[2] It played at the inauguralAsian Baseball Championship inManila, 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 the1963 Asian Baseball Championship inSeoul.[3]
South Korea debuted at the1976 Amateur World Series. With the country hosting the1982 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 afoul pole. South Korea became the first Asian country to win the amateur baseball competition, finishing with an 8–1 record.[3]
Since the2000 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]
After losing 4–3 toJapan at the2007 Asian Baseball Championships, the South Koreans finished with a 2–1 record and were forced to seek entrance to the2008 Olympics via theFinal Olympic Qualifying Tournament to be held March 7–14, 2008 inTaichung, Taiwan.[9]
The South Korean roster, for the qualifying, is mainly professional players from theKorea Baseball Organization and is not subjected to the scheduling conflicts that troubled the teams fromAustralia,Canada, andMexico.[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, withRyu Hyun-Jin recording a complete-game shutout. After dispatching theirrivals 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 toLee 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]
The South Korean team playing in the2006 World Baseball Classic included not just South Korean players based in South Korea, but South Korean players in the U.S. fromMajor League Baseball. In the Classic, the team played in and won every game they played inPool A. They advanced toround 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.
South Korea competed in the2009 World Baseball Classic, playing the first round in Pool A inTokyo. South Korea opened the tournament with a 7–0 rout ofChinese Taipei. South Korea then lost toJapan in a 14–2 contest shortened to 7 innings by the WBC's early termination rule. In its third game, South Korea soundly defeatedChina 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 overJapan in order to advance as the Pool A winner. In Pool 1, the round 2 of the WBC, South Korea beatMexico 8–2 and then went on to beatJapan 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]
South Korea competed in the2013 World Baseball Classic for the third time, playing the first round in Pool B at theTaichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium inTaichung, Taiwan, facing theNetherlands,Chinese Taipei andAustralia. 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 upcoming2017 World Baseball Classic.
Team South Korea won the2015 WBSC Premier12 Tournament.
South Korea lost the first game in the first round to surprising newcomersIsrael, 2–1 in 10 innings.[14] They also lost their second game against theNetherlands 5–0. They were eliminated for the second time ever, after their poor performance at the2013 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 facingIsrael, the Netherlands, and Taiwan in the2017 World Baseball Classic.[17]
Team South Korea came in second in the 12-team2019 WBSC Premier12 Tournament, which was held in November 2019. Two quota spots were allocated from the Tournament, of thespots 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]
In January 2020, the WBC announced the 16 national teams which participated at the2017 World Baseball Classic, which included South Korea, will automatically qualify for the tournament.[19]
The following is a list ofprofessionalbaseball match results currently active in the latest version of theWBSC World Rankings, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.[20]
Win Lose Void or postponed Fixture
| Asian Championship GS | October 14 | South Korea | 4–5(F/10) |  China | Taichung Stadium, Taiwan |
| 12:00NST | Boxscore | Attendance: 200 |
| Asian Championship GS | October 15 | Pakistan  | 1–12(F/7) | South Korea | Douliu Stadium, Taiwan |
| 12:00NST | Boxscore | Attendance: 350 |
| Asian Championship GS | October 16 | Philippines  | 2–12(F/7) | South Korea | Douliu Stadium, Taiwan |
| 12:00NST | Boxscore | Attendance: 166 |
| Asian Championship SR | October 18 | South Korea | 1–7 |  Chinese Taipei | Taichung Stadium, Taiwan |
| 18:30NST | Boxscore | Attendance: 1,250 |
| Asian Championship SR | October 19 | South Korea | 3–11 |  Japan | Taichung Stadium, Taiwan |
| 12:00NST | Boxscore | Attendance: 362 |
| Asian Championship 3rd | October 20 | South Korea | 6–8 | China | Taichung Stadium, Taiwan |
| 12:00NST | Boxscore | Attendance:0 |
| WBSC Premier12 GS | November 6 | Australia  | 0–5 | South Korea | Gocheok Dome, South Korea |
| 19:00KST | Boxscore | Attendance: 5,899 |
| WBSC Premier12 GS | November 7 | South Korea | 3–1 |  Canada | Gocheok Dome, South Korea |
| 19:00KST | Boxscore | Attendance: 6,000 |
| WBSC Premier12 GS | November 8 | Cuba  | 0–7 | South Korea | Gocheok Dome, South Korea |
| 19:00KST | Boxscore | Attendance: 13,600 |
| WBSC Premier12 SR | November 11 | United States  | 1–5 | South Korea | Tokyo Dome, Japan |
| 19:00JT | Boxscore | Attendance: 3,012 |
| WBSC Premier12 SR | November 12 | Chinese Taipei | 7–0 | South Korea | ZOZO Marine Stadium, Japan |
| 19:00JT | Boxscore | Attendance: 4,056 |
| WBSC Premier12 SR | November 15 | Mexico  | 3–7 | South Korea | Tokyo Dome, Japan |
| 19:00JT | Boxscore | Attendance: 5,121 |
| WBSC Premier12 SR | November 16 | South Korea | 8–10 | Japan | Tokyo Dome, Japan |
| 19:00JT | Boxscore | Attendance: 44,224 |
| WBSC Premier12 F | November 17 | South Korea | 3–5 | Japan | Tokyo Dome, Japan |
| 19:00JT | Boxscore | Attendance: 44,960 |
| Summer Olympics GS | July 29 | Israel  | 5–6(F/10) | South Korea | Yokohama Stadium, Japan |
| 19:00JT | 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 |
| 19:00JT | 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 |
| 19:00JT | 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 |
| 12:00JT | 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 |
| 19:00JT | 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 |
| 19:00JT | 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 |
| 12:00JT | 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 |
| World Baseball Classic GS | March 9 | Australia | 8–7 | South Korea | Tokyo Dome, Japan |
| 12:00JT | 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 |
| 19:00JT | 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 |
| 12:00JT | 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 |
| 19:00JT | 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 |
| Friendly | November 1 | Cuba | 0-2 | South Korea | Gocheok Dome, South Korea |
| 18:35KST | 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 |
| 14:00KST | 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 |
| 18:30NST | 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 |
| 18:00NST | 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 |
| 18:00NST | 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 |
| 18:30NST | 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 |
| 12:00NST | LP:Steven Kent | Boxscore | WP: So Hyeong-jun Sv:Park Yeong-hyun HR:Kim Do-yeong (1) | Attendance: 1,799 |
| Friendly | November 15 | South Korea | Japan | Tokyo Dome, Japan | |
| Friendly | November 16 | South Korea | Japan | Tokyo Dome, Japan | |
| 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 | |
| World Baseball Classicrecord | Qualificationrecord | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | W | L | RS | RA | W | L | RS | RA | ||
| 2006 | Semifinals | 3rd | 6 | 1 | 26 | 14 | No qualifiers held | |||||
| 2009 | Runners-up | 2nd | 6 | 3 | 53 | 30 | No qualifiers held | |||||
 2013 | Round 1 | 9th | 2 | 1 | 9 | 7 | Automatically qualified | |||||
| 2017 | Round 1 | 10th | 1 | 2 | 12 | 15 | ||||||
| 2023 | Round 1 | 9th | 2 | 2 | 40 | 26 | ||||||
| 2026 | To be determined | |||||||||||
| Total | Runners-up | 6/6 | 17 | 9 | 140 | 92 | — | — | — | — | ||
| Summer Olympicsrecord | Qualification record | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | W | L | RS | RA | Method | |||||
| 1984 | Finals | 4th[a] | 2 | 3 | 12 | 17 |  1982 Amateur World Series | |||||
| 1988 | Finals | 4th[a] | 2 | 3 | 11 | 19 | Qualified as hosts | |||||
 1992 | Did not qualify |  1987 Asian Baseball Championship | ||||||||||
| 1996 | Preliminary | 8th | 1 | 6 | 40 | 59 |  1995 Asian Baseball Championship | |||||
| 2000 | Bronze medal |  3rd | 5 | 4 | 45 | 30 | 1999 Asian Baseball Championship | |||||
 2004 | Did not qualify | 2003 Asian Baseball Championship | ||||||||||
| 2008 | Gold medal | 1st | 9 | 0 | 50 | 26 |  Final Qualifying Tournament | |||||
| 2020 | Fourth Place | 4th | 3 | 4 | 33 | 35 | 2019 WBSC Premier12 | |||||
| 2028 | To be determined | |||||||||||
| Total[b] | 1 Title | 4/6 | 18 | 14 | 168 | 150 | ||||||
| WBSC Premier12record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | W | L | RS | RA | Ranking |
| 2015 | Champions | 1st | 6 | 2 | 48 | 19 | 8th |
| 2019 | Runners-up | 2nd | 5 | 3 | 38 | 25 | 3rd |
| 2024 | Opening Round | 5th | 3 | 2 | 28 | 24 | 4th |
| 2027 | To be determined | ||||||
| Total | 1 Title | 3/3 | 14 | 7 | 114 | 68 | |
| Asian Gamesrecord | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | W | L | # of teams | ||
| 1994 | Runners-up | 2nd | 3 | 1 | 6 | ||
 1998 | Champions | 1st | 6 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 2002 | Champions | 1st | 6 | 0 | 5 | ||
 2006 | Third Place | 3rd | 3 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 2010 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 2014 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 0 | 8 | ||
 2018 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 2022 | Champions | 1st | 5 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 2026 | To be determined | ||||||
| Total | 6 Titles | 8/8 | 38 | 5 | |||
2010 Asian Games Baseball was held inGuangzhou, China from November 13 to 19, 2010. Only a men's competition was held. All games were played at theAoti Baseball Field. South Korea beatChinese Taipei 9–3 in the final to win the gold medal.
2014 Asian Games Baseball was held inIncheon, South Korea from September 22 to 28, 2014. All games were played at theMunhak Baseball Stadium andMokdong Baseball Stadium. South Korea beatChinese Taipei 6–3 in the final to win the gold medal.[21]
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The following players were called up to participate in the2023 World Baseball Classic:
Lee Kang-chulKim Ki-tai,Jong Hyun-wook,Kim Min-jae,Kim Min-ho,Bae Young-soo,Shim Jae-hak,Jin Kab-yong
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