Kim Dong-yeon: "Independent Baseball Team Gyeonggi League Participation Allowance of 80,000 Won to Be Paid Starting Next Year"

Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province (second from the left), attended the closing ceremony of the Gyeonggi-do League independent baseball team on the 21st and is taking a commemorative photo with the award recipients.

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, promised to pay independent baseball team Gyeonggi League players 80,000 won per game starting next year.

On the 21st, Governor Kim attended the closing ceremony and awards ceremony of the '2022 Independent Baseball Team Gyeonggi League' and announced this payment plan, saying, "The Gyeonggi League, the only independent baseball league in Korea that provides a second chance to players who have not advanced to the pros or have been released, is a symbolic example showing Gyeonggi Province as the 'Capital of Opportunities.'"

He emphasized, "We will continuously strive so that a single failure does not lead to a lifelong setback, and even if players fail, they can shake it off and rise again to challenge themselves in the Capital of Opportunities, Gyeonggi Province."

Governor Kim is preparing policies that create social value by expanding opportunities, such as opportunity income for cultural artists and opportunity allowances for the disabled, supporting activities that are not properly compensated. The payment of appearance fees is part of this effort.

The Independent Baseball Team Gyeonggi League holds 40 regular-season games per team, so players will receive 3.2 million won in appearance fees. Players of the top three teams who participate in the final tournament (up to 8 games) will receive additional appearance fees.

To this end, the province plans to include 400 million won in the main budget next year for the appearance fee project.

Now in its fourth year, the Independent Baseball Team Gyeonggi League features six teams registered with the Korea Baseball Association: Yeoncheon Miracle, Seongnam McPies, Goyang Winners, Paju Challengers, Pocheon Monsters, and Gapyeong Whales (20 players per team), competing from March to October.

Meanwhile, in this year's championship series, Yeoncheon Miracle, who ranked second in the regular season, defeated Seongnam McPies, the first-place team, 3 wins to 1 loss to claim the championship cup.

At the awards ceremony that day, the Most Valuable Player (MVP) honor went to outfielder Lee Jeong-jae of Gapyeong Whales, who won the double crown with a batting average of 0.467 and 52 RBIs. Based on his performance in the independent baseball league, he joined the Hanwha Eagles.

Since the league's launch in April 2019, 18 players, including Lee, have advanced to the professional leagues.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.