Yeongwol Sangdong High School, which is in danger of closing amid the depopulation crisis in the abandoned mining area, is taking the first step to establish the world’s first public baseball specialized high school beyond the nation.

The ‘Founding Ceremony of the Baseball Club of Yeongwol Sangdong High School and the Proclamation of the Establishment of Yeongwol Sangdong Baseball High School’ (hereinafter referred to as the Founding Ceremony and Proclamation Ceremony) will be held at 2 pm on the 9th at the Yeongwol Sangdong Middle and High School Gymnasium (Solbit Hall). The founding ceremony and proclamation ceremony will be attended by Kim Eung-ryong, former head coach, Yang Seung-ho, former head coach, Sun Dong-yeol, and Lee Al-cham, director of development at the Korea Baseball Softball Association.

On the day, the Promotion Committee for the Establishment of Sangdong Baseball High School in Yeongwol (hereinafter referred to as the Promotion Committee) will announce plans to foster baseball professionals, including umpires, training sections, sports foreign language interpretation, sports information industry, records and administration.

Previously, in the 1970s, the Sangdong mine was the largest tungsten producer in the East, a symbol of Korea’s modernization. However, the tungsten industry in Sangdong lost its strength in the 1980s due to price competition with China and finally closed in 1994. Naturally, Sangdong High School had a total of 3437 graduates until last year, but this year there was only one, and there were no new students for the second year in a row, leaving only three third-year students at the beginning of the semester.

In response, Sangdong residents, alumni of the school, and former students are attempting to convert the school into the first baseball school in Korea to overcome the crisis of local disappearance.

At the launching ceremony of the promotion committee in April, many celebrities from the baseball world attended, including Kim Eung-ryong, the former head coach of the Korean National Baseball Team, and Yang Seung-ho, the former manager of the Lotte Giants. Today’s launch and proclamation ceremony will also be attended by Kim Eung-ryong and Yang Seung-ho, as well as former manager Sun Dong-yeol and Lee Al-cham, director of development at the Korea Baseball Softball Association.

The 14 players (Jang Chul, Kwak Jun-seo, Park Kyu-heon, Heo Un-ho, Shin Myung-kyu, Yoon Do-gyu, Yoo Ji-won, Lee Jae-joon, Hong Jun-hyuk, Choi Jang-hyuk, Kim Min-seo, Moon Seok-joon, Song Min-jae, and Kim Min-sung), as well as the first head coach Baek Jae-ho and pitching coach Bong Min-ho, will introduce the team and vow to make waves in high school baseball next season.

“It will be an opportunity to share the joy of creating a baseball team with students, parents, leaders, alumni, and local residents, and to strengthen our resolve to succeed in establishing a baseball specialty school,” said Lee Un-sik. “We will also use this opportunity to show our united strength to the outside world.” 토토사이트