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The composition of the coaching staff for the Korean national baseball team, led by Choi Won-ho (53), former Hanwha Eagles manager, has been completed. Jo Seong-hwan (50), who served as acting manager of the Doosan Bears, joins as head coach, while Lee Dae-hyung (43), who won the stolen base title three times during his playing career, takes on a national team coaching role for the first time.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced on the 28th that it has completed the formation of the coaching staff for the national team participating in the 2026 Asia Pro Baseball Championship (APBC) and held its first meeting.
Centered around Manager Choi Won-ho, Jo Seong-hwan, a KBS N SPORTS commentator, will serve as head coach and defensive coach; former Hanwha coach Park Jeong-jin (50) will be the pitching coach; and Lotte coach Jung Kyung-bae (52) will be the hitting coach.
KBO Development Committee member Kwon Oh-joon (46) will serve as bullpen coach, Hanwha coach Kim Jae-geul (54) as strategy and third base coach, and Lee Dae-hyung, who serves as both a KBO Strength Enhancement Committee member and SPOTV commentator, as quality control (QC) and first base coach. Choi Ki-moon (53), head coach and battery coach for the Ulsan Whales, has been appointed as battery coach.
The most notable figure is Coach Lee Dae-hyung. He began his professional career with the LG Twins in 2003 and played until 2019 after stints with the KIA Tigers and KT Wiz. Leveraging his speed, he was named stolen base champion for four consecutive years from 2007 to 2010, recording a KBO League career total of 505 stolen bases.
Coach Lee Dae-hyung, who has worked as a commentator since retirement and interacted with baseball fans, will perform national team coaching duties for the first time in this tournament. Based on his base-running experience, which was a strength during his playing days, he will serve as first base coach while also participating in game management and power analysis work as QC coach.
The addition of Coach Jo Seong-hwan is also noteworthy. After finishing his playing career with the Lotte Giants, he transitioned to coaching and served as head coach and defensive coach for Doosan and Hanwha. In particular, at Doosan, he has experience commanding the first division team as acting manager.
Coach Jo Seong-hwan, who had been working as a commentator, will join the national team coaching staff for the first time in this APBC. He is expected to assist Manager Choi Won-ho while taking charge of the team's defensive organization and game management.
This tournament is also special for Manager Choi Won-ho. After retiring from playing, he worked as a coach and commentator, serving as Hanwha Futures League manager before taking on the role of first division acting manager in 2020. He was appointed as the official Hanwha manager in May 2023 but stepped down in May 2024.
His connection with the national team continued. He served as bullpen coach at the 2019 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 and contributed to Korea's advancement to the quarterfinals for the first time in 17 years as QC coach at this year's World Baseball Classic (WBC). He also contributed to winning a gold medal as pitching coach at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
However, this is his first time leading the national team in an international tournament as manager. The remaining coaching staff consists of individuals with professional baseball field experience. Coach Park Jeong-jin worked as both a player and coach for Hanwha, while Coach Jung Kyung-bae gained hitting coaching experience at SK Wyverns (now SSG Landers), Doosan, and Hanwha. Coach Kwon Oh-joon, who worked as both a player and coach for the Samsung Lions, will also take on a national team coaching role for the first time.
Coach Choi Ki-moon served as battery coach for the national team at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, the 2024 Premier12, and this year's Asian Games. Coach Kim Jae-geul also helped Korea advance to the quarterfinals at this year's WBC as strategy and base-running coach.
This APBC is a stage for discovering next-generation national team resources in preparation for the 2027 Premier12 and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Players aged 24 or under (born on or after January 1, 2002) or within their third year of professional baseball are the basic eligibility targets, and up to three wildcards aged 29 or under can be utilized.
In the first tournament in 2017, Lee Jung-hoo, Kim Ha-seong, Koo Ja-wook, and others participated, while in 2023, Kim Hye-seong, Kim Do-young, Gwak Bin, Won Tae-in, and others wore the Taeguk mark. This year as well, young players including Kim Do-young are expected to gain international stage experience.
The national team will be called up on November 1 and conduct closed training and practice games at Daejeon Hanwha Life Ballpark from the 2nd to the 8th. They will depart for Japan on the 9th and face Australia on the 12th, Japan on the 13th, and Taiwan on the 14th in sequence. Depending on the preliminary results, they will play either the final or the third-place playoff at Tokyo Dome on the 15th.
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*This content was translated by AI.View Original
