ID :
202298
Fri, 08/19/2011 - 10:37
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/202298
The shortlink copeid
New commissioner of S. Korean baseball league to be inaugurated next week
SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Yonhap) -- Koo Bon-neung, a business executive recently nominated as the new head of the top local baseball league, will be inaugurated next week, the league office said Friday.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said Koo, chairman of the metal conglomerate Heesung Group, will formally take the post as the league's 12th commissioner next Monday.
Koo, 62, was nominated at a board meeting of KBO general managers on Aug. 2. He required a final approval from the owners of all eight teams.
But instead of convening a meeting, each owner mailed in their support for Koo, citing their hectic schedules.
Koo will replace You Young-koo, who resigned in May after being arrested on corruption charges. Koo is a younger brother of LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo and an elder brother of Koo Bon-joon, vice chairman of LG Electronics and former owner of the LG Twins club in the KBO.
Koo Bon-neung himself has served as a consultant for the Seoul-based Twins. He will serve until the end of this year, when You's term was set to expire, and is widely expected to be nominated again for a new three-year term.
Since You's resignation, the KBO had been run by an interim commissioner, Lee Yong-il. Team presidents had sought to nominate one of the eight owners. They reached out to Koo after all the club owners turned down the offer.
All KBO clubs are owned and operated by private companies, including major conglomerates such as Samsung, LG, Doosan and Lotte.
Koo is only the third commissioner without a political background in the KBO's 29-year history. Known as a baseball fan, Koo once published a pictorial book of rare black-and-white baseball photos he had collected.
The KBO has enjoyed unprecedented success in recent seasons, buoyed by South Korea's success at the Olympics, the Asian Games and the World Baseball Classic. The league is poised to break its all-time single-season attendance record for the third straight year.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said Koo, chairman of the metal conglomerate Heesung Group, will formally take the post as the league's 12th commissioner next Monday.
Koo, 62, was nominated at a board meeting of KBO general managers on Aug. 2. He required a final approval from the owners of all eight teams.
But instead of convening a meeting, each owner mailed in their support for Koo, citing their hectic schedules.
Koo will replace You Young-koo, who resigned in May after being arrested on corruption charges. Koo is a younger brother of LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo and an elder brother of Koo Bon-joon, vice chairman of LG Electronics and former owner of the LG Twins club in the KBO.
Koo Bon-neung himself has served as a consultant for the Seoul-based Twins. He will serve until the end of this year, when You's term was set to expire, and is widely expected to be nominated again for a new three-year term.
Since You's resignation, the KBO had been run by an interim commissioner, Lee Yong-il. Team presidents had sought to nominate one of the eight owners. They reached out to Koo after all the club owners turned down the offer.
All KBO clubs are owned and operated by private companies, including major conglomerates such as Samsung, LG, Doosan and Lotte.
Koo is only the third commissioner without a political background in the KBO's 29-year history. Known as a baseball fan, Koo once published a pictorial book of rare black-and-white baseball photos he had collected.
The KBO has enjoyed unprecedented success in recent seasons, buoyed by South Korea's success at the Olympics, the Asian Games and the World Baseball Classic. The league is poised to break its all-time single-season attendance record for the third straight year.
