KBO's "treasured collection": 1981 professional baseball founding planning materials selected as National Pre-Cultural Heritage Choi U (수상)

*This content was translated by AI.

Official practical records that vividly capture the starting point of Korean professional baseball have been selected as the top artifact among pre-cultural heritages certified by the state.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced on the 30th that its in-house collection, "Materials Related to the 1981 Korean Professional Baseball Founding Plan," won Choi U (수상), the highest honor at the "3rd Pre-Cultural Heritage Discovery Contest" hosted by the National Heritage Service.

According to KBO, a total of 1,755 entries (18,156 items) of modern and contemporary artifacts were submitted from 20 institutional investors nationwide for this contest, resulting in fierce competition. KBO's founding planning materials secured first place by receiving the highest balanced evaluation across all categories—rarity, historicity, academic value, and usability—from document review and on-site investigation through to the national online voting.

The materials that received the honor of winning are the first official master plan that led to the successful launch of professional baseball in 1982. It is a unique original document, handwritten in detail across a total of 18 pages, covering the entire process of the birth of professional baseball, including organizational structure that formed the league's framework, home team location allocation, player recruitment principles and treatment standards, game schedules, and initial financial outlooks.

In particular, it was highly evaluated for its significant value in Korean modern and contemporary history, as it is the result of meticulous planning that organically combined national and social visions of the early 1980s, such as "giving dreams and hope to children" and "national reconciliation," with mass sports, going beyond simply creating a sports league.

With Lee Beon (수상) as an opportunity, core historical materials proving the history of professional baseball's launch are also expected to meet fans directly in the future.

KBO is preparing for the opening in the second half of 2027, targeting the long-standing wish of the baseball community, the "Korean Baseball Hall of Fame (Baseball Museum)." Currently, it is closely cooperating with Busan City and Gijang County to concretize construction and operation plans, and intends to disclose major artifacts, including the founding planning documents whose value has been certified this time, through exhibition spaces loved by baseball fans.

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*This content was translated by AI.