KBO players’ union ends All-Star boycott

The interest group representing baseball players in the nation’s top circuit said Friday its members will participate in the annual All-Star Game, retracting an earlier threat to sit out the midseason festivities in protest to the league’s reluctance to expand.

The Korea Professional Baseball Players Association (KPBPA) said it reaffirmed the willingness of the Korea Baseball Organization to work on adding a 10th club to the league.

On Tuesday this week, presidents of nine KBO teams decided after their board meeting to ask the league commissioner’s office to resume discussions on expansion. Last month, they said they would put any expansion talks on hold, stoking the ire of the players’ association and fans.

Kim Sun-woong, the KPBPA’s secretary general, said the league pledged it will convene a board meeting immediately after the championship Korean Series in October to discuss expansion.

Yonhap