KBO 뜻 깊은 개막... 외국에서도 주목

The new baseball season began in South Korea on Tuesday becoming the one of the world's first major professional sports competitions to return to action amid the pandemic... with the crack of the bat and the sound of the ball smacking into the catcher's mitt echoing around empty stadiums.
Half way across the globe, bleary eyed sports fans in the U.S. stayed up well past their bedtimes to catch a first glimpse of pandemic era competitive baseball.
Our Kim Do-yeon has the highlights from the season openers.
Daegu was the epicenter of COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea, but on Wednesday, it hosted its first baseball match of the season.
In a sign of appreciation for frontline healthcare workers, the president of the city's medical association threw the first pitch to backdrop footage of fans showing their thanks.
To open KT Wiz's first home game in Suwon, a little boy rolls toward the home plate in a giant plastic baseball to mark Children's Day.
Spectators were not able to watch the opening games in the stadium, but they still enjoyed the action on TV.
And the lack of crowds didn't stop the cheerleaders from trying to create a lively atmosphere.
It wasn't just Korean fans watching the games.
The matches were broadcast as far afield as the U.S. and Japan, giving a whole new audience their first taste of Korean baseball.
"I think it's significant that Korea is letting the world know about its measures against COVID-19 through baseball"
The famous bat flips, which are largely scorned by American fans, were in the spotlight once again.
And in Japan, some envied Korea's ability to start the league so soon.
"Japan is yet to have any plans for opening the league, so the country has a lot of interest in Korea's no-spectator opener"
The Korea Baseball Organization says it has shared its COVID-19 manual with baseball leagues in North America and Japan.
Kim Do-yeon, Arirang News