Olympic Baseball

[Anchor Lead]

Baseball, which was removed from the summer Olympics after the 2008 Beijing games, will be reinstated at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Slugger Lee Seung-yeop who helped Korea win an Olympic gold medal in 2008, has welcomed the sport's reintroduction into the Olympic Games.

[Pkg]

Slugger Lee Seung-yeop drew the hottest headlines for Team Korea at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.Lee was not in peak condition throughout the Games, but he hit home runs in both the semifinal and final matches, leading the Korean national baseball team to its first ever Olympic gold medal. Now at age 40, Lee welcomes the news of baseball being reinstated as an Olympic event. At the next summer games four years from now, he will again venture on to the Olympic stage, but not as an athlete.

[Soundbite] Lee Seung-yeop(Samsung Lions) : "I believe I will be at the Olympics in one way or another for the benefit of Korean baseball, if I am called upon by the baseball community."

Infielder Koo Ja-wook, who is hailed as the successor to Lee Seung-yeop, is determined to perform well in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, as Lee did before him.

[Soundbite] Koo Ja-wook(Samsung Lions) : "A gold medal would be the best. I hope I can contribute to winning a gold medal."

Five events including baseball/softball and sports climbing have been added to the Tokyo games.