Professional Baseball in Korea: Origins, Causes, Consequences and Implications

Abstract

Korean professional baseball has been thriving since the early 1980s, and this development can only be understood in a modern geopolitical context. The recent political history of South Korea has been that of military dictatorship, foreign military dominance by the United States and the ruthless drive for export-dependent economic growth based on exploitation of the working class. Modern Korean culture has been moulded by these political and economic phenomena. Dictatorship used culture as an effective means to control people. After the massive slaughter of civilians in the city of Kwangju in 1980, the coup-based military regime had to find a way to nullify and de-legitimize the Korean peoples' growing anger against the government. In this regard, national cultural events such as Kukp'ung 81, a Korean song festival, were organized, and professional sports such as baseball were introduced. Thus the government used sport as part of its long-term policy goals and to win prestige abroad. Korean dictators promoted sport to mollify and to distract the public from seeking legitimate human rights demands.