President Lee Jae-myung expressed deep condolences today (August 15) over the passing of South Korean professional baseball legend, the late former manager Baek In-cheon.

Writing on X (formerly Twitter) today, President Lee stated, "I send my respect and gratitude to the manager who illuminated an era while accompanying South Korean professional baseball from its very beginning. I pray for the late manager's peaceful repose."

President Lee noted, "(Manager Baek) rewrote the history of South Korean professional baseball by setting an astonishing batting average of .412 in 1982, when professional baseball first began. This record, which remains unbroken to this day, shows just how exceptional of a player the manager was."

He added, "Not only as a player but also as a manager, he led junior players for a long time and contributed to the development of South Korean professional baseball. The manager's passionate dedication to baseball will remain in our memories for a long time."


Former manager Baek passed away at 6:41 a.m. today (August 15) while receiving treatment for a cerebral hemorrhage at Dankook University Hospital in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.

He was the sole 40% hitter in South Korean professional baseball history, recording a batting average of .412 while playing as a player-manager for the MBC Chungryong in 1982, the inaugural year of professional baseball. He played actively in both South Korean and Japanese professional baseball for 23 years.

(Photo courtesy of KBO, Yonhap News)