Pro Baseball Team Faces Elimination

The pro baseball team Hyundai Unicorns is in danger of elimination from the league, after domestic telecom giant KT officially scrapped its takeover plan Friday.

The Korea Baseball Organization, which had attempted to find a buyer for the financially troubled squad, is in a bind.

Other companies including the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation and the STX Group had expressed interest in buying the team, but withdrew at the last minute.

Hyundai will likely be eliminated this season, reducing the number of pro baseball teams in Korea to just seven.

Why Did KT Withdraw?

KT in an emergency board meeting Friday canceled its planned takeover of Hyundai.

A KT spokesman said, "We have given up our plan to establish a baseball team after judging that focusing our management capacity to overcome stagnant growth is more important."

This came 15 days after the league had announced that KT would buy Hyundai.

Many voices in and out of the company were negative over the bid, and KT said numerous and unfounded reports on the proposed takeover damaged its corporate image.

A KT source said many expressed opposition to the move in its nine-member board meeting, but denied that extra costs to the entry fee of six billion won was a hindrance.

"The KBO did not mention the amount of the additional costs in detail,” another KT source said. “The cost was actually not a big problem, but things stumbled when the league changed its stance on player salaries and the team’s base." KT wanted to base the team in Seoul, which is already home to two other squads.

A league official rejected that explanation, saying, "It’s just their justification. They are abandoning the plan due to internal causes."

○ 7-Team League Possible

The pro baseball season this year will open earlier at the end of March due to the Beijing Summer Olympics. Hyundai has until January 20 to find an owner, or face elimination from the league.

Several of Hyundai’s pitchers are expected to find work with other teams, but the remainder of the roster will have nowhere to go.

The league has had eight teams since 1991. If Hyundai is dropped, the combined number of games will fall from 504 to 420, resulting in one team not playing each day of the season.

For the team to survive, one of the following must happen: a buyer emerges; Hyundai Group affiliates decide to subsidize the team again; or the league and other squads manage the Unicorns.

League secretary-general Ha Il-sung said, "We’ll open a board meeting soon to come up with measures."

hic@donga.com