Ryu Ji-hyun’s warm-up match schedule has been confirmed.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced on the 12th that “the schedule and broadcast of the Korean national baseball team’s training camp in Okinawa, Japan, have been confirmed in preparation for the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March.”
The national team, led by head coach Ryu Ji-hyun, will play a total of six games with four teams, including the Hanwha Eagles on the 21st and 23rd, the KIA Tigers on the 24th, the Samsung on the 26th, and the KT Wiz on the 27th.
사진 확대 Photo = Courtesy of KBO 
사진 확대 Photo = Courtesy of KBO
The warm-up match was designed to provide an opportunity for players to adjust their pace and improve their condition ahead of the official WBC practice match and main tournament in Osaka in early March. As the weight is placed on protecting players and maintaining their condition, it will be shorter than the regular innings, and the game innings may change depending on the on-site situation.
In addition, the entire warm-up match will be broadcast live on Naver’s streaming platform “Chizik,” which broadcasted 2025 NAVER K-BASEBALL SERIES (K-Baseball Series) live in November last year, and KBO YouTube. It is also available live on KBSN Sports, MBC Sports Plus, and SPOTV.
Meanwhile, the national team, which will head to Osaka after playing the Okinawa schedule, will play two official WBC practice games with the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) team on March 2 and March 3 before entering Tokyo, the land of the showdown.
In the first round of the WBC, South Korea, which belongs to Group C, will play its first match against the Czech Republic on March 5 and then have a day off. It will then face Japan, Taiwan, and Australia on March 7-9. If you finish in the top two, you can play in the second round.
South Korea, which advanced to the semifinals of the first tournament in 2006 and finished second in the 2009 tournament, was humiliated by being eliminated in the first round in 2013, 2017, and 2023, seeks to regain its status as a “baseball powerhouse” through this tournament.
[Lee Hanjoo, MK Sports Reporter]