Korea Baseball Organization (Commissioner Heo Koo-yeon) and Wando County (Mayor Shin Woo-cheol) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the 'South Coast Belt' on March 21 (Friday) to promote the development of baseball and invigorate the local economy through winter training, competitions, and baseball-related events for domestic professional and amateur baseball teams.
Wando County plans to invest a total of 10.5 billion won by 2027 to complete winter training infrastructure, including one official-standard baseball field, one multi-sport field for baseball and soccer, and an indoor baseball training facility.
Additionally, Wando County intends to develop an 'athlete healing program' through the 'Marine Healing Center,' opened last year, to help professional and amateur baseball players recover from fatigue accumulated during winter training and heal injuries and exhaustion. Moreover, Wando County plans to create differentiated winter training infrastructure and programs that allow for year-round training, including the completion of an indoor baseball training facility this year, regardless of the weather.
Mayor Shin Woo-cheol said, "We will create a premium local government through the sports-focused South Coast Belt MOU," expressing his hopes while requesting active cooperation from the Korea Baseball Organization and the baseball community.
In response, Commissioner Heo Koo-yeon stated, "We will do our utmost to ensure that public-private collaboration for the development of Korean baseball and revitalization of the local economy continues steadily by utilizing the newly created infrastructure in Wando, the clean sea capital of Korea," and conveyed his appreciation to Mayor Shin Woo-cheol and the citizens of Wando.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Heo Koo-yeon visited Haenam County to check the progress of the South Coast Belt infrastructure agreed upon last year and requested the expansion of baseball field lighting and improvements to existing youth hostel facilities. In response, Haenam County Mayor Myung Hyun-gwan stated, "We will actively consider improvements and expansions of related facilities to make Haenam County the premier baseball mecca in Honam, where many baseball teams can visit year-round."
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