KBO's new strikeout king proves nice guys can finish first

Kia Tigers left-hander Yang Hyeon-jong was crowned the new career strikeout king in South Korean baseball Wednesday, proving that nice guys can finish first in sports. Yang struck out Yoon Dong-hee of the Lotte Giants in the top of the third inning of the teams' Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular-season game at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, some 270 kilometers south of Seoul. It was Yang's 2,049th career strikeout, moving him past former Hanwha Eagles pitcher Song Jin-

BaseballAug. 21, 2024

They went for the gold, They're now ads' golden ticket

This year's Olympics may be over, but star players continue to appear on TV -- through advertisements. Convenience store chain GS25 launched "Shin Yu-bin's Snack Time" on Wednesday in collaboration with the table tennis player. Shin's viral on-camera moments at the Paris Games famously showed her snacking. OB Beer, an official sponsor of the Paris Olympics, has selected fencing champion Oh Sang-uk, who won gold in both the individual and team saber events, to promote its

TelevisionAug. 21, 2024

Badminton champion An Se-young unavailable for natl. federation's meeting over controversy this week

The Olympic badminton champion An Se-young will not attend a meeting organized by the sport's national federation this week to discuss problems she had raised after winning her gold medal in Paris, officials said Tuesday. Multiple officials for the Badminton Korea Association (BKA) said An's camp had informed the organization that she wouldn't be able to show up for any meeting this week, although the BKA had proposed multiple dates for An to choose from. The BKA launched an inter

More SportsAug. 20, 2024

Viral sharpshooter Kim Ye-ji lands Louis Vuitton campaign

Viral Korean sharpshooter Kim Ye-ji, who won a silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, is set to appear in a one-time magazine photo shoot wearing Louis Vuitton, her agency said Monday. While the shoot is a one-off, the agency, Plfil, said they plan to continue supporting Kim’s modeling career. Several companies in Korea, from startups to established brands, have expressed interest in making her their brand ambassador, they added. “Nearly 20 brands want to use her in advertisement

More SportsAug. 20, 2024

Padres' Kim Ha-seong leaves game with shoulder injury

Kim Ha-seong of the San Diego Padres exited his latest game with a shoulder injury after a dive back to first base on a pickoff attempt. Kim hurt his right shoulder during the top of the third inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver on Sunday. He opened that inning with a single off the starter Bradley Blalock, and with Luis Arraez at the plate, Kim dove safely back to the bag when the right-hander tried to pick him off. After the safe call, Kim immediately signaled to the d

BaseballAug. 19, 2024

KBO breaks single-season attendance record

The South Korean baseball league set a new single-season attendance record on Sunday, surpassing a 7-year-old mark with more than a month left on the season. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced the attendance for the season reached 8,407,887 as of Sunday afternoon, after all 23,750 tickets were sold out for the evening tilt between the Kia Tigers and the LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. The previous record had been 8,400,688 fans from the 2017 season, covering 720 ga

BaseballAug. 18, 2024

Badminton star An Se-young urges for more flexibility in support practices

Olympic badminton champion An Se-young broke her long silence Friday, clarifying her recent criticism of the national badminton federation. The 22-year-old gold medalist sparked controversy when she lashed out at her national team and the Badminton Korea Association (BKA) for their poor handling of her knee injury, and for outdated and inefficient operations, among other things, soon after winning the women's singles event at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 5. But she had not commented further o

Social AffairsAug. 16, 2024

Tigers' Kim Do-yeong becomes youngest member of 30-30 club in KBO

The Kia Tigers' All-Star Kim Do-yeong became the youngest member of the "30-30" club in South Korean baseball history Thursday. Kim launched his 30th home run of the 2024 Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) season in the top of the fifth inning against the Kiwoom Heroes at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, a two-run shot off Heroes starter Enmanuel De Jesus. Kim already had 33 steals prior to Thursday's game. With this home run, Kim, at 20 years, 10 months and 13 days old, became the

BaseballAug. 15, 2024

[Graphic News] S. Korea ties gold medal record

South Korea concluded the 2024 Paris Olympics in eighth place, securing a total of 32 medals: 13 gold, 9 silver and 10 bronze. The final day saw the nation add a silver in women's weightlifting and a bronze in women's modern pentathlon. South Korea tied its record for most gold medals at a Summer Games, matching the 13 golds achieved in 2008 and 2012 despite sending its smallest delegation since 1976 with 144 athletes competing in 21 sports. The team's success was highlighted by

More SportsAug. 13, 2024

South Korea deploys sniffer dog to screen for bedbugs after Paris Games

South Korea has deployed a bedbug sniffer dog at its main Incheon international airport in a bid to reduce the risk of the tiny insects entering the country when athletes, officials and fans return from the Paris Olympics. Leading the campaign is a two-year-old beagle named Ceco, who pest control company Cesco said is the first and so far only canine trained in the country to detect the odor of pheromones, the chemicals released by bedbugs. Ceco is capable of sweeping a standard hotel room in un

More SportsAug. 12, 2024

Ministry begins probe into badminton body

  The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Monday it is kicking off an inspection of the Badminton Korea Association, following claims of irregularities made by Olympic gold medalist An Se-young. Immediately after she won the gold in the women's singles event in Paris, An suggested that the national team "did not take her injury seriously." Her comment sparked suspicion that she had been forced to play through an injury that had been ailing her since last year. She also al

More SportsAug. 12, 2024

S. Korea earns 2 medals on final day, finishes 1 shy of record

PARIS(Yonhap) -- South Korea capped its better-than-expected run at the Paris Olympics with two more medals on the final day of the competition Sunday. Seong Seung-min grabbed bronze in the women's modern pentathlon and became the first Asian to reach the podium since the women's event was added to the Olympics in 2000. After equestrian show jumping, fencing, swimming and laser run, which combines running and laser pistol shooting, Seong finished in third place with 1,441 points, behin

More SportsAug. 11, 2024

Park Hye-jeong wins silver in women's weightlifting

PARIS(Yonhap) -- Park Hye-jeong captured silver in the heaviest weight class in women's weightlifting Sunday for South Korea's final medal of the Paris Olympics. Park finished with the total of 299 kilograms, with 131kg in the snatch and 168kg in the clean and jerk in the women's +81kg event at South Paris Arena 6 in the French capital. Both the snatch mark and the total weight are new South Korean national records. Park, 21, became the first South Korean medalist in the women&#

More SportsAug. 11, 2024

Archery triple gold medalists named S. Korean MVPs

PARIS (Yonhap) -- Kim Woo-jin and Lim Si-hyeon, a pair of triple gold medalists in archery, were named the MVPs of the South Korean delegation to the Paris Olympics on Sunday. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) announced that Kim and Lim were voted as the country's top athletes at the 33rd Summer Games by South Korean media. The KSOC created the MVP awards for a multisport competition for the first time at the Hangzhou Asian Games last fall. Lim, who had also won three archery

More SportsAug. 11, 2024

South Korea's Paris Olympics triumph: 13 golds secure historic success

South Korea's Olympic team, comprising 144 athletes across 21 events, achieved at least 13 gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, placing seventh overall, with athletes in shooting, fencing and archery playing pivotal roles in the country's success. Despite sending its smallest delegation since 1976, South Korea marked the nation's first double-digit gold medal haul in a Summer Olympics since the 2012 London Games. South Korea's record-breaking achievement in gold medals was largely due to the

More SportsAug. 11, 2024

Lee Da-bin wins bronze in women's taekwondo

Lee Da-bin grabbed a bronze medal in the women's heaviest weight class in taekwondo Saturday, giving South Korea its third medal in its traditional martial art at the Paris Olympics. Lee defeated Lorena Brandl of Germany 2-1 (4-2, 5-9, 13-2) in one of the two bronze medal contests in the women's +67-kilogram event at Grand Palais in the French capital. South Korea sent four taekwondo practitioners to Paris, and three of them came away with medals. Before Lee, Park Tae-joon won the men&

More SportsAug. 11, 2024

S. Korea beats Germany for bronze in women's table tennis team event

  PARIS -- South Korea defeated Germany to claim the bronze medal in the women's table tennis team event at the Paris Olympics on Saturday. The trio of Shin Yu-bin, Jeon Ji-hee and Lee Eun-hye beat Shan Xiaona, Wan Yuan and Annett Kaufmann by 3-0 after taking one doubles and two singles matches at South Paris Arena 4 in the French capital. This was South Korea's second medal in the women's team event, which was added to the Olympics in 2008. South Korea won bronze that first year and went 1

More SportsAug. 10, 2024

Amy Yang six off 54-hole lead in women's golf

LPGA veteran Amy Yang is six shots off the lead heading into the final round of the women's golf tournament at the Paris Olympics. Yang, world No. 3, shot a two-under 70 in the third round on Friday at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, south of Paris, to reach three-under for the tournament. She had four birdies and two bogeys for her best round of the tournament so far. Yang is tied for 11th place with Hannah Green of Australia. They are six strokes behind two co-leaders, Lydia Ko, a South

GolfAug. 10, 2024

No medal for S. Korea as taekwondo athlete loses out on bronze; pentathletes move on

South Korea came within a win of collecting its third straight taekwondo medal on Friday, with Seo Geon-woo losing in the bronze medal match of the men's -80-kilogram event. No other South Korean athlete came close to contending for a medal on this day, as the competition heads into its final weekend. South Korea's gold medal tally remained at 13, tied for its record for the Summer Games. Earlier on Friday, Seo seemed to be on his way to delivering the record-breaking gold medal. But

More SportsAug. 10, 2024

Retired weightlifter receives belated bronze medal in Paris ceremony

A dozen years after competing in what turned out to be his last Olympic Games, former South Korean weightlifter Jeon Sang-guen received his bronze medal in a ceremony in Paris on Friday. In a special ceremony by the Eiffel Tower on the sidelines of the 33rd Olympic Games, Jeon was belatedly presented with the bronze medal from the men's +105-kilogram event at the 2012 London Olympics. Jeon, now 43 and long retired from the sport, originally placed fourth with a total of 436kg. Ruslan Albego

More SportsAug. 9, 2024