Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), led by President Heo Koo-yeon, has successfully arranged an evaluation match with the Japanese national team for the first time in history. This preliminary battle, ahead of next year's World Baseball Classic (WBC), is expected to serve as a stepping stone for the Korean baseball team's restoration of honor.

The KBO and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) officially announced the hosting of the KBO-NPB evaluation match at a press conference attended by KBO President Heo Koo-yeon, Korean national team manager Ryu Ji-hyeon, NPB President Sakakibara Sadayuki, and Japanese national team manager Ibatat Hirokazu on the 17th at 1:30 p.m. at the Prince Hotel in Shinagawa, Tokyo.

This evaluation match, which will be held at the Tokyo Dome on November 15-16, is the first evaluation match between teams composed of professional players from both countries. This evaluation match was realized due to the mutual agreement of both league offices, as they needed a stage to present entertainment for fans from both countries longing for baseball after the postseason and to check the skills and conditions of players eligible for the national team ahead of the WBC in March next year.

The KBO announced its plan to strengthen the national team through continuous exchange matches with overseas teams via the ‘KBO League·Team Korea Level-up Project’ announced in July 2023, and as part of this, the evaluation match was organized.

At the press conference, KBO President Heo Koo-yeon expressed, "I am very pleased as the president of the KBO that the evaluation match between the Republic of Korea national team and the Japanese national team is taking place. The Japanese national team is the strongest team in the world, having not missed out on top positions in many recent international competitions. The evaluation match being held in November is a very important point, just three months before the 2026 WBC, and I am confident it will be a good experience for our national team."

He continued, "Japan's Samurai Japan is acknowledged by the entire baseball community. They have already established themselves as the world's best team. That is why for our Republic of Korea baseball team, having a good game and a good match against Japan’s Samurai Japan feels significantly more weighty than before," and noted, "It has been since the 2008 Beijing Olympics that a professional team from Korea beat Japan. Through this evaluation match, I have a strong desire to prove that Korean baseball is a team whose skills have improved and can once again draw attention on the world stage during next year's WBC."

President Heo remembered the victory in the semifinals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics (6-2) as the last achievement, but if considering competitions with professional players from both countries, the last victory was in the semifinals of the Premier12 in 2015 (4-3). At that time, Korea secured the inaugural Premier12 championship by defeating the United States in the finals.

However, that was already 10 years ago. Beginning with the 2017 Asia Professional Baseball Championship (APBC) qualifiers and finals, Korea has suffered nine consecutive losses to Japan in various tournaments, including the 2019 Premier12 Super Round and finals, the semifinals of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the first round of the 2023 WBC, the APBC qualifiers and finals in 2023, and the group stage of the Premier12 last year.

Japan, which won the championship by defeating the United States at the 2023 WBC, is undoubtedly the world's top baseball powerhouse. It presents an opportunity to gain experience against a clearly superior Japanese team and to scout the WBC strength in advance. Korea and Japan are placed together in Group C for the WBC, with the Korea-Japan match set for March 7 next year.

It is also noteworthy that this will be the international debut for Ryu Ji-hyeon, the head coach of the Korean national team, who was appointed in January. After serving as the manager of the LG Twins from 2021 to 2022 and being a national team coach for two years, Coach Ryu needed a stage to elevate his managerial skills, and the two evaluation matches against Japan are an excellent opportunity.

Coach Ryu stated, "This Korea-Japan evaluation match is the first international competition since I took over as coach. It is a great honor to have my debut as the national team coach against the Japanese national team at the heart of Japanese baseball, the Tokyo Dome, and I am very excited. This is a very important evaluation match ahead of the WBC. Through these two games, it will be a meaningful time to check the condition of Korean players and determine the players for the final roster. It is also a very important evaluation match as we will be able to analyze the Japanese national team, which we will face in the main tournament."

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