Two South Korean baseball pitchers facing illegal gambling charges were suspended by the nation's top professional league on Friday.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said Lim Chang-yong and Oh Seung-hwan, both currently free agents, will be banned for half of their team's games should they return to the South Korean league.

Lim and Oh were recently investigated over charges that they'd illegally gambled in Macau in 2014, but Seoul prosecutors in December applied for a summary order and sought a fine of 7 million won ($5,860) for each, essentially letting the two right-handers off the hook.

Lim, 39, was released by his KBO club, Samsung Lions, in November while being investigated. 

Oh, formerly of the Lions, became a free agent this offseason after two years with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and the 33-year-old is currently trying to land his first Major League Baseball (MLB) contract.

The KBO explained that although Oh wasn't a KBO player when he allegedly gambled, the league still decided to levy sanctions because "there is a possibility" that he may return to South Korea someday.

The KBO teams will each play 144 games in 2016. The league office said the sanctions will cover games in the Futures League, the KBO's equivalent of the minor league, and also the preseason and postseason.

Should there be less than half a season remaining at the time of their return, the ban will then extend into the following season.

Both are top-notch closers with proven track records. 

Oh is the KBO's all-time leader with 277 saves, recorded over nine seasons with the Lions.
 
He then led the Central League in saves in both of his two years with the Tigers. In 2014, he had 39 saves with a 1.76 ERA while striking out 81 in 66 2/3 innings. 

Then last year, he tied Tony Barnette with 41 saves, despite a leg injury that prematurely ended his season in December, along with a 2.83 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 69 1/3 innings.

Oh and the Tigers are no longer talking. Should he choose to return home, the Lions are the only KBO club he may join, and it appears unlikely they will acquire him after releasing Lim for the same gambling charges.

Lim is one of only a few South Korean players to have competed in the KBO, NPB and MLB. He made his KBO debut with the Haitai Tigers in 1995. 

He pitched for the Lions from 2000 to 2007 before leaving for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows Japan, where he picked up 128 saves -- the most by a South Korean pitcher in the NPB -- over five seasons. He had a brief stint with the Chicago Cubs in 2013 before returning to the Lions before the 2014 season.

Lim led the KBO with 33 saves in 2015 and is ranked second behind Oh on the all-time list with 232 saves. (Yonhap)