S. Korean baseball league to sign cooperative deals with China

SEOUL, March 8 (Yonhap) -- The governing body of South Korean professional baseball will sign cooperative agreements with its Chinese counterparts this week, officials here said Tuesday.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said its commissioner, Koo Bon-neung, will sign the deals with the Chinese Baseball Association (CBAA) and the Chinese Baseball League (CBL) in Beijing on Wednesday. Koo is scheduled to depart for China Tuesday afternoon.

The CBAA is the national baseball governing body, while the CBL handles commercial and marketing operations for the CBAA.

Koo will be accompanied by KBO's secretary general, Yang Hae-young. They will have talks with CBAA President Lei Jun over issues covering marketing, coach training programs and player development, among other areas of cooperation and exchange.

"We'll be taking our first step into the Chinese market," the KBO said in a statement. "By strengthening bilateral exchanges and promoting Korean baseball in China, we hope to expand our market in China and also help grow Chinese baseball at the grassroots level."

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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