The Seoul Metropolitan Government, the KBO, and the LG Twins and Doosan Bears will form a committee to resolve the controversy over an alternative stadium for the teams to use while the Jamsil Dome is under construction.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government unveiled plans to create a world-class “sports and MICE complex,” including the reconstruction of Jamsil Stadium, which is currently home to LG and Doosan. The stadium will be demolished after the 2025 KBO season, and a 30,000-seat dome stadium will be built with a target opening date of 2032.
Jamsil Stadium is one of the most iconic stadiums in Korean professional baseball. Along with Daejeon’s Hanwha Life Eagles Park, it is the only stadium that has been used as a professional team’s home stadium since the first year of professional baseball (1982), and it has many attractive factors, such as its location in the capital city of Seoul, its vast size that is not at all comparable to major league stadiums, and the fact that it is the only stadium where two professional teams share a home.
However, since the stadium has been used since the beginning of professional baseball, it has been criticized for its poor facilities compared to other newly constructed stadiums. In this situation, the Seoul Metropolitan Government created a ‘sports and MICE complex’ in the Jamsil area, and Jamsil Stadium had the opportunity to be reborn as a 30,000-seat dome stadium. The construction cost is expected to be around 500 billion won.
The problem is that LG and Doosan don’t have a stadium to use during the construction period, which is scheduled to last from 2025 to 2031. The KBO, LG, and Doosan wanted to use the Seoul Olympic Stadium, which is set to remain open after being remodeled as part of the Sports and MICE Complex plan, as a replacement, but the city of Seoul balked, citing airborne smoke issues and fan safety.
LG and Doosan have six years to find a replacement, which is not a short time. The Seoul Metropolitan Government has suggested that other stadiums in the metropolitan area, including the Gocheok Sky Dome and Mokdong Stadium in Seoul, as well as SSG Landers Field in Incheon and KT Wiz Park in Suwon, be used as alternatives, but realistically, it’s unlikely that LG and Doosan will accept these offers.
The Gocheok Dome is already home to the Kiwoom. Even if LG and Doosan were to reach an agreement to use the Gocheok Dome, the other team would still have to find a stadium. In the case of Mokdong, the stadium currently hosts the amateur national tournament, and night games are not held there because of the noise it creates in the afternoon for the surrounding residential neighborhoods. For LG and Doosan, who are based in Seoul, it is also a burden to leave the city and travel to Incheon or Suwon. 카지노
Following the announcement of Seoul’s plans for a dome in Jamsil, baseball fans welcomed the news, but questioned whether LG and Doosan would be able to find alternatives. This is because the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s announcement is not really an alternative at all.
Recognizing this problem, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on May 25 that it has agreed to form a council to discuss issues related to alternative stadiums for Jamsil Stadium. The group will include representatives from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the KBO, LG, Doosan, and experts in construction and safety.
The most ideal solution that the KBO, LG, and Doosan would like to see is to use the remodeled Seoul Olympic Stadium as a replacement stadium and to secure a passageway from the General Sports Complex Station on Subway Lines 2-9 to the Seoul Olympic Stadium. However, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is opposed to this option, citing safety concerns due to limited access for spectators and the fact that it could delay construction by up to a year or more.
While there are still many obstacles to overcome, the fact that Seoul has recognized the problem of alternative stadiums and formed a council is the first step in solving the problem. It will be interesting to see if Seoul, the KBO, LG, and Doosan can come up with a solution that fans can live with.