Back where it began, 'Korean King' Kim homers (twice!) in Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea -- Though the Padres’ team plane touched down at Incheon International Airport outside Seoul at 1:32 a.m. local time on Friday, the team was met outside customs in the airport terminal by a mob scene of cameras, well-wishers and autograph-seekers, as is customary for the arrival of a major celebrity or sports team in this country.

That’s how this dream week started for Ha-Seong Kim, who has most prominently carried the South Korean banner in the Major Leagues for the last three seasons. That week has continued with a meeting with the president and, now, a two-homer game in his old park, when he carried the Padres’ offense to a 5-4 exhibition win over the LG Twins on Monday.

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So, imagine what it’ll be like come Wednesday, when the games count for real.

“I don't know if the tears will actually flow, but I really do get the feeling that I might start crying,” said Woo-Yong Park, a college student, in Korean to MLB.com.

“It was fascinating for me to watch all these players that I'd only ever seen on TV with my own eyes,” said Myung-Sip Oh, a “cheermaster” in the KBO, in Korean to MLB.com. “To actually see Ha-Seong Kim among those players, it's almost unbelievable.”

When Kim first made the jump to the Major Leagues ahead of the 2021 season, he’d really shared the spotlight on the Kiwoom Heroes with teammate Jung-Hoo Lee, and that was still evident in the crowd when the Heroes played an exhibition game against the Dodgers on Sunday, when Lee jerseys littered the Kiwoom fan sections.

But the way that Kim has emerged on offense while seizing a Gold Glove Award, a coveted shortstop position in the Major Leagues and the hearts of San Diegans, who chant his name in full force when he steps to the plate at Petco Park, resonates ever more loudly in his homeland, which has welcomed him back with all due fanfare this week.

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“As compared to the first one or two years following his departure, I think his name value has definitely gotten more significant,” Park said.

That love continued to pour in for Kim at the Gocheok Sky Dome, his old home park while he played with the Heroes, as he crushed a two-run homer off Chan-Kyu Im in the second inning, and another off Woo-Young Jung in the sixth, his first round-trippers in this building since he left a 133-homer career in the KBO behind in 2021.

“Just grateful that I'm wearing the Padres uniform and playing here in my home country,” Kim said through interpreter David Lee. “I'm sure that it'll be a great experience and memories for my teammates playing against the Korean teams as well.”

Kim’s impact in this country reaches to the point that, when he and the Padres hosted a youth clinic at a local park in Seoul on Saturday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attended to extend Kim a welcome back, while Korean legend Chan Ho Park and Kim’s teammates all saw the impact Kim had on the children in attendance.

“To see him come here to Seoul and be part of that, these kids look up to him,” Manny Machado said. “To be there firsthand and experience it, I'm glad I went to it.”

Woo-Yong Park, the young fan who has supported Kim since his Heroes debut, would wake up and dutifully watch Kim carve out a path in the Majors, with night games on the West Coast lining up neatly with mornings in Seoul. Kim had such an impact on his fandom that Park made a trip out to San Diego three or four years ago, he said, specifically to watch Kim play.

“He didn't do all that great in those games, but to watch him get so much love from San Diego fans, I remember how it really warmed my heart,” Park said.

Now, Kim is back to give youngsters like Park a chance to see how far he’s come since those days -- and continue to set a standard for what Korean baseball players can become.

“I think that this is only possible because of the former Asian players who played in the big leagues,” Kim said earlier in the week. “They kind of paved the way for me and other Asian players who are going now. … Hopefully, that will inspire more Asian baseball players to dream that they can play in the big leagues.”