From a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics to letters written in 1904 by American missionary Philip L. Gillett, who first introduced baseball to Korea, nearly 50,000 artifacts will soon have a permanent home. Busan’s Gijang County is preparing to open the Korean Baseball Hall of Fame, a museum that will showcase 120 years of the sport’s history.
The project was first proposed in 2011 as part of the Korea Baseball Organization’s centennial plans, but disputes over costs stalled progress for more than a decade. In 2023, Busan, Gijang, and the KBO reached a new agreement, allowing the long-delayed plan to move forward with an investment of 19 billion won.
A groundbreaking ceremony took place on Sept. 16 at Dream Ballpark with Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, KBO Commissioner Heo Koo-youn, and other baseball leaders attending. Officials called the launch a symbolic start for the sport’s next century.
The three-story museum will span nearly 3,000 square meters. Construction is scheduled to finish in late 2025, with the opening planned for early 2027. Inside, exhibits will include AI-based media art depicting memorable moments, a hall for inductees, and displays tracing Korean baseball’s growth from amateur play to professional triumphs. Busan envisions the hall as a cultural landmark and a gathering place for generations of fans.