KT gives hand to amateur baseball

KT Chairman Lee Suk-chae, left, poses with Korea Baseball Association Chairman Lee Byung-seok, center, and Ustream Korea CEO Kim Jin-sik at KT’s main office in downtown Seoul, Tuesday. The telecommunications giant recently signed a memorandum of understanding to invest 10 billion won to support the local amateur baseball league. / Courtesy of KT

By Kim Yoo-chul

KT said on Tuesday that it will invest a total of 10 billion won for the next 10 years to support the local amateur baseball league.

The nation’s telecommunication giant signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Korea Baseball Association (KBA) and Ustream Korea to develop Korea’s baseball and vitalize the amateur league at KT Olleh Square in Seoul, Tuesday.

Ustream is a video streaming services provider with more than 80 million viewers.

Under the MOU, KT will offer a total of 6 billion won over the next decade ― 600 million won every year to support four amateur competitions. Ustream plans to provide an additional 4 billion won with proceeds from online streaming services.

“Improvement in amateur baseball league can boost competiveness in the professional baseball league. KT will remain as a key supporter to vitalize the local amateur league,” said the company CEO Lee Suk-chae during a news conference at its main office in downtown Seoul.

Ustream plans to broadcast all games in the high-school league live via its channels and KT is going to designate a KBA-only channel inside its Internet-based television services such as Olleh TV and Olleh TV Now.

KT is the owner of the 10th team in the pro league. It is already partnered with the city of Suwon, just outside of Seoul.

The latest decision comes after the Bundang, Gyeonggi Province-based outfit is cutting its reliance on telecom-related businesses under the leadership by the CEO Lee to diversify its business portfolios amid the saturated local telecom market.

KT has 57 affiliates under its wing, while those of 24 are non-telecom legal subsidies. It operates finance, security and rental businesses for corporate sustainability.