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Former KBO sluggers to take up coaching positions in Taiwan, Japan

Published: 05 Jan. 2026, 13:59 Updated: 05 Jan. 2026, 18:37

From left: Baseball players Lee Seung-yuop, Lee Dae-ho and Oh Seung-hwan [JOONGANG ILBO]

Lee Dae-ho and Lee Seung-yuop — the first two players honored with KBO retirement tours — are taking the lead this year in promoting Asian baseball exchanges in Taiwan and Japan.

The Chinatrust Brothers of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League announced on Saturday that they have invited “Korean baseball legend" Lee Dae-ho to serve as a guest hitting coach. Lee will join the team during spring training as a batting instructor, providing one-on-one lessons to Chinatrust hitters.

“The team struggled last season because we failed to produce timely power hits that could change the flow of games,” the club said. “In particular, our right-handed power hitters underperformed. We expect Lee Dae-ho, one of Asia’s premier right-handed sluggers, to pass on his know-how in producing extra-base hits in clutch situations as well as his mental approach.”

Lee is one of the KBO's most iconic sluggers, with 486 home runs across his professional career in Korea, the United States and Japan. Since retiring at the end of the 2022 season, he has remained active through variety shows, baseball programs and his YouTube channel. His stint with Chinatrust marks his first role in more than three years as a baseball instructor rather than a broadcaster.

Taiwan became his first destination largely because of his ties with Chinatrust manager Keiichi Hirano. The two were teammates with the Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) from 2012 to 2013. Lee is also scheduled to participate as a coach in games between the SoftBank Hawks — another of his former NPB teams — and Chinatrust.

The picture shows Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yuop. [NEWS1]

Former Doosan Bears manager Lee Seung-yuop, meanwhile, will spend an entire season in the NPB. He has been appointed first-team hitting coach of the Yomiuri Giants. Lee played for Yomiuri for five seasons beginning in 2006, serving as the cleanup hitter in his first two years and belting 41 and 30 home runs, respectively.

Yomiuri manager Shinnosuke Abe, who was the Giants’ starting catcher during Lee’s playing days, told Japanese media that he personally requested the hire. “I asked the club to bring him in, and I’m grateful that he accepted,” Abe said. “He was a tireless worker as a player, and he has a lot to pass on to today’s players.”

The KBO is introducing an “Asian quota” system this year, aimed at expanding its influence across the Asian baseball market and strengthening competitiveness. The two former national team cleanup hitters now appear to be keeping pace with that shift in new roles.

Oh Seung-hwan, who completed the league’s third retirement tour last year, has also continued exchanges with his former NPB team, the Hanshin Tigers.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY BAE YOUNG-EUN [[email protected]]