Lee Bum-ho to helm Kia Tigers as youngest active KBO manager

Kia Tigers' new manager Lee Bum-ho [YONHAP]

The Kia Tigers have promoted hitting coach Lee Bum-ho to be their new manager, the Gwangju club announced Tuesday.

Lee signed a two-year deal worth 900 million won ($677,000).

Lee's promotion comes after the club fired former manager Kim Jong-kook on Jan. 29 for being the subject of an arrest warrant on bribery charges.

Kia Tigers fire manager as arrest warrant sought on bribery charges

The promotion also makes Lee, 42, the youngest manager active in the KBO.

The former third baseman started his career at KBO team Hanwha Eagles in 2000 and played for the Daejeon side until 2009 when he moved to Japanese team Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.

He joined the Tigers in 2011 upon his KBO return and played for the Gwangju side until his retirement in 2019. He has been with the Tigers ever since, working as a scout in 2020 and a minor league manager in 2021 before becoming the team’s hitting coach in 2022.

“I am well aware of what the club and fans expect from me,” Lee said in a statement shared on the Tigers’ official Instagram account on Tuesday. “Not as a freshman coach, but as Kia Tigers manager, I will do whatever it takes to bring the team back to the top of the table during my spell.”

The Tigers have the most Korean Series wins, at 11, but they have not won a title since 2017.

Since their last Korean Series win, the Tigers have seen little regular season success, with their best records yet being a fifth-place finish on the 10-team table in 2018 and 2022.

The team had another unimpressive season last year, finishing in sixth place.

The Tigers have been training in Australia since the end of January and will be back in KBO action when the 2024 season starts on March 23.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]