President Yoon Throws Surprise First Pitch at Korean Professional Baseball Opening Game in Daegu

President Yoon Suk-yeol made a surprise appearance at the opening ceremony of the 2023 Korea Professional Baseball KBO League regular season and threw the ceremonial first pitch.

President Yoon Suk-yeol is throwing the first pitch at the opening game between the NC Dinos and Samsung Lions of the 2023 professional baseball season held at Daegu Samsung Lions Park on the 1st.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 1st, President Yoon threw the first pitch at the opening game between the Samsung Lions and the NC Dinos held at Daegu Samsung Lions Park. President Yoon appeared on the field wearing a Korean national baseball team jacket and uniform, accompanied by First Lady Kim Keon-hee in the same attire.

When the announcer introduced President Yoon as "today's first pitcher," the audience greeted him with applause.

President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee are entering the field to throw the first pitch at the 2023 professional baseball opening game held at Daegu Samsung Lions Park on the 1st.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Guided by KBO Commissioner Hur Koo-yeon, President Yoon stepped onto the mound and threw a pitch that passed through the strike zone. The ball thrown by President Yoon will be displayed at the baseball museum to be established in Gijang-gun, Busan.

This marks the eighth time a South Korean president has thrown the ceremonial first pitch at a professional baseball game. It has been 28 years since a president threw the first pitch at the opening game of the professional baseball season, following President Chun Doo-hwan in 1982, the inaugural year of professional baseball, and President Kim Young-sam in 1995. President Yoon became the third sitting president, after Chun Doo-hwan and Kim Young-sam, to throw the first pitch at a regular season opening game.

Before the first pitch, President Yoon had a conversation with KBO Commissioner Hur Koo-yeon and other baseball officials. It is said that President Yoon has known players since he was in the 5th grade of elementary school, frequently visiting the Hanyang University baseball team dormitory near his maternal relatives' home.

Former players Nam Woo-sik, Jeong Hyun-bal, Cheon Bo-seong, and Bae Dae-ung, all Hanyang University alumni who had ties with President Yoon at the time, also joined the conversation.