President Yoon Suk Yeol threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game Saturday to mark the start of a new season.
Yoon had the honor before a Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) Opening Day game between the NC Dinos and the home team Samsung Lions at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, some 240 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
Yoon, a former prosecutor, was based in Daegu from 2014 to 2016. He has described himself as a baseball fan and attended a Korean Series game in Seoul during his presidential campaign in November 2021.
Yoon is the sixth president to throw the first pitch at a KBO game, after Chun Doo-hwan, Kim Young-sam, Roh Moo-hyun, Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in. Kim did it three times.
Yoon is the third to do so on Opening Day and the first in Daegu, considered a stronghold of the conservative People Power Party.
The 2023 KBO season began Saturday at five stadiums across the country.
There were two games in Seoul, with the Lotte Giants visiting the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium and the Kiwoom Heroes hosting the Hanwha Eagles at Gocheok Sky Dome.
In Incheon, 27 km west of the capital city, the defending champions SSG Landers hosted the Kia Tigers at Incheon SSG Landers Field.
The KT Wiz took on the LG Twins at KT Wiz Park in Suwon, about 35 kilometers south of Seoul.
Source: Yonhap News Agency