The three in-game characters that League of Legends Champion Korea players will use to play against a Chinese team in the 2020 All-Stars on Saturday was revealed by Riot Games on Wednesday. The characters, known as champions, were selected through an online vote by over 16,200 fans that took place from Dec. 12-14. The 2020 LoL All-Stars is an annual LoL event where professional players, popular streamers and retired pros come together to play in a series of exhibition matches. The five partici

The Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said Wednesday they have signed former major league hitter Jose Pirela. The team said the Venezuela-born Pirela signed a one-year deal worth up to $800,000, including a guaranteed salary of $500,000 and a signing bonus of $100,000. He can make up to $200,000 in incentives. Making his MLB debut with the New York Yankees in 2014, the 31-year old went .257 with 17 homeruns and 82 RBIs in 302 big league games for the Yankees, San Diego Pad

South Korean forward Son Heung-min was named the country's best football player of the year for a record fifth time, the sport's governing body said Tuesday. The Korea Football Association (KFA) announced that Son, the attacking stalwart for Tottenham Hotspur, was voted the Male Player of the Year for 2020. It is the fifth time that Son has received the honor, including those in 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2019, extending his lead over three-time honoree Ki Sung-yueng of FC Seoul, who earned the awar

South Korean professional golfer Kim A-lim on Monday won the Women's US Open in her debut in the major. The 25-year-old shot a 4-under par 67 in the final round to win the 75th US Women's Open at the Champions Golf Club in Houston. Kim shot a four-round total of 3-under 281 to win the title by one stroke. "I'm very honored to win the 75th US Women's Open. Still can't really soak in that I'm the champion, but it feels different winning the tournament here," she said in a post-match p

While the League of Legends Champions Korea offseason is a time of many roster changes and player transfers, it is also when many veteran players decide to retire from professional play. Two members of former team ROX Tigers, Lee “Kuro” Seo-haeng and Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyun, announced their retirement this week, while former world champion Lee “Crown” Min-ho announced he was ending his professional career earlier this month. Kuro and GorillA both reached t

More fans than ever went online to watch the LoL World Championships this year, according to Riot Games, with over 1 billion hours watched worldwide during the games that took place from Sept. 25 to Oct. 31 in Shanghai. The Play-in Stage, where the representative team from weaker regions such as Oceania, Latin America, Brazil, Japan, Turkey along with fourth seed teams of China and Europe and third seed team of North America among others competed for a spot in the Group Stage, also reached rec

South Korean major league pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin has been picked for an All-MLB Team for the second straight season. The Toronto Blue Jays' left-hander was one of five starting pitchers for the All-MLB Second Team, unveiled by Major League Baseball (MLB) on Wednesday (US time). On the strength of a third-place finish in the American League (AL) Cy Young Award voting, Ryu made the Second Team again, after doing so as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019. He was the National League (NL) Cy

Two South Korean football teams left standing at Asia's top club competition have avoided facing each other in the quarterfinals. The draw for the final eight at the Asian Football Confederation Champions League took place on Tuesday, with Ulsan Hyundai FC getting Beijing Guoan, and Suwon Samsung Bluewings drawing Vissel Kobe. Both of the quarterfinal matches will take place Thursday at Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, just south of the Qatari capital of Doha. The first match between Ulsan and

All good things must come to an end, even a memorable two-year coaching run for Jose Morais with the K League champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Jeonbuk announced Sunday they have parted ways with the Portuguese coach after his two-year deal expired following the end of their 2020 campaign. In his two seasons, Morais led Jeonbuk to consecutive K League 1 championships in 2019 and 2020, and also added the Korean FA Cup title this year to complete Jeonbuk's first "double," or winning tw

Tottenham Hotspur's Korean star Son Heung-min has found the back of the net for the 12th time this season while helping his club reach the knockout stage in a continental club tournament. Son scored once in Tottenham's 3-3 draw against LASK at Linzer Stadium in Linz, Austria, on Thursday (local time) in Group J action at the UEFA Europa League. The result moved Tottenham to 10 points on three wins, one draw and one loss with one match to go, good for second place behind Antwerp (12 points), an

Though she only turned 30 this year, LPGA golfer Ryu So-yeon has been fielding questions about retirement. Considering that Ryu has yet to play on the LPGA Tour this year -- the South Korean star will make her season debut this week in Texas -- and that she chose to stay home even after the US competition resumed, perhaps questions about Ryu's future were understandable. Ryu said Thursday she wasn't thinking about quitting the sport during her time away from LPGA; rather, she only wanted an ex

The 2020 regular season MVP in South Korean baseball is poised to pick up another piece of hardware this month. Mel Rojas Jr. of the KT Wiz has been nominated for the Golden Glove in the outfield category, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced Wednesday. The slugging right fielder captured the MVP award on Monday in a landslide after leading the KBO in home runs, RBIs, slugging percentage and runs scored. He became the sixth foreign player to take KBO's top individual award. Rojas J

The current South Korean football chief Chung Mong-gyu will seek his third term at the helm. An official with the Korea Football Association (KFA) said Tuesday that Chung, its current president, submitted his letter of intent to run for another term earlier in the day, and it will be officially processed Wednesday. Under KFA rules, Chung will be suspended from duty during his campaigning period. Cho Byung-deuk, the most senior among seven vice presidents, will serve as the interim president.

One of South Korea's premier sluggers will be knocking on the big league doors this winter. The Korea Baseball Organization announced Monday it has asked Major League Baseball to post NC Dinos outfielder Na Sung-bum for MLB's 30 clubs. The decision came after the Dinos requested the Korean league take that administrative step and give Na a chance to reach the big leagues. Under the posting system, any interested big league team will be able to negotiate with Na during a 30-day period. It will

South Korean curling officials and coaches who abused the national women's team members for years have been slapped with lifetime bans. The Korean Curling Federation (KCF) announced Monday that its former Vice President Kim Kyung-doo, his daughter Kim Min-jung and her husband Jang Ban-seok will no longer be allowed to set foot in the sport. The Kims were once considered the royal family in South Korean curling. Kim Kyung-doo was a founding member of the KCF in 1994. Kim Min-jung was the head