"Strike!"... President Yoon's Surprise Transformation into a Youth Baseball Umpire

President Yoon Suk-yeol made a surprise appearance as the home plate umpire (the umpire who oversees the entire game from behind the catcher) before the start of the final match at the 2023 Presidential Office Invitational National Youth Baseball Tournament on the 14th, performing a 'strike call' ceremony.

On the morning of the event, President Yoon visited the site of the '2023 Presidential Office Invitational National Youth Baseball Tournament' held at the Yongsan Children's Garden Sports Field, wearing a baseball national team jumper. He came out onto the field dressed in the national baseball team jumper.

This tournament was organized to commemorate the opening of the former U.S. military base site in Yongsan as a children's garden.

President Yoon presented commemorative caps and bouquets to the captains and coaches of Seoul Gadong Elementary School and Daejeon Sinheung Elementary School, who advanced to the finals, and personally signed a large baseball model.

Then, before the game started, he put on umpire gear, appeared as the home plate umpire, shouted the strike call, and high-fived all the players.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon Suk-yeol visited the baseball field within the Yongsan Children's Garden in Seoul on the 10th to watch a game played by the Sejong City youth baseball team. [Image source=Yonhap News]

In his encouragement speech, President Yoon said, "I hope you play a wonderful game with good sportsmanship as players, following the rules of baseball well and showing consideration for the opposing team."

He also said, "Seeing you all play makes me very proud, realizing how well it turned out for me to leave the Blue House and come to Yongsan."

President Yoon also recalled, "To break in my baseball glove, I used to sit on classroom chairs with it under me during lessons and sometimes received guidance from teachers."

Afterwards, President Yoon watched the game from the stands together with youth players, parents, and children.

This Presidential Office Invitational National Youth Baseball Tournament invited a total of 32 teams, including the top three teams from eight leagues of the national youth tournament for under-12s held last year and outstanding regional teams, and has been conducting matches in a tournament format since the 1st of this month.

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