Salaries of KBO players hit new high

The average annual salary for South Korean professional baseball players reached a record high of 94.4 million won ($84,108) this year, with 112 players receiving a six-figure salary, the country’s baseball governing body said Wednesday.

According to the report released by the Korea Baseball Organization, a total of 425 South Korean players, excluding rookies and foreign players, will receive 94.4 million won on average for the 2012 season, up 8.5 percent from the previous record of 87 million won last year.

The number of South Korean players who topped the landmark 100 million-won figure in their annual salary reached an all-time high of 112 athletes, or 26.4 percent of the total, the KBO said.

The Samsung Lions, which claimed the Korean Series crown last year, will pay an average of 117 million won to their players this year, the most among the KBO’s nine clubs, the data showed.

In terms of pay hikes, the Hanwha Eagles topped the list as they decided to pay their players 94.4 million won on average this year, up by 75.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data.

Kim Tae-kyun of the Hanwha Eagles will earn 1.5 billion won this year, the highest salary in the KBO. 

(Yonhap News)