Korea must learn from Taiwan's baseball success

[Anchor]

Last year, Korean baseball failed to reach the semifinals of the Premier 12, falling behind not only Japan but also Taiwan.

Taiwan's victory is evaluated as a result of consistent investment rather than luck.

This contrasts sharply with the reality of our amateur baseball.

Reporter Moon Young-kyu has the story.

[Report]

The Taiwanese national team celebrated their first Premier 12 victory with a car parade and received approximately 3 billion won in prize money from the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association.

As evidenced by the scale of the prize money, Taiwan has spared no significant support through the association led by businessman President Jeffrey Jr. Koo.

Local media described it as 'not a miracle but accumulation,' highlighting the support from CTBC, where Koo served as vice president, particularly in amateur baseball investment.

In contrast, the Korea Baseball Softball Association, which should lead the development of promising players, is regressing as it fails to fulfill its role.

The budget of the Korea Baseball Softball Association for 2023 is about 19 billion won, which has doubled in six years, but there has been no change in the 20 million won support for local federations.

It is also problematic that Sejong, with only about 100 registered players, and Seoul, with over 3,000, receive the same amount of funding.

There are even opinions that some support has decreased.

[Yoon Moo-sun/Youngnam Middle School Coach: "Previously, when we went to local competitions, we received about 20,000 to 30,000 won per player as support. But now, there is no such support at all. So, the burden has increased. The burden on parents..."]

The association itself has faced several controversies, including allegations of sexual misconduct against the president and a case where the association covered the recovery funds for an embezzling employee.

Additionally, there are claims that communication with the KBO, which should also promote baseball development, is out of sync.

With 10 million spectators and the Premier 12 semifinals exit, Korean baseball's fortunes were mixed last year. Rather than being swated by the external growth of professional baseball, it is now time to reassess from the grassroots level.

This is KBS News, Moon Young-kyu.