KBO Cancels 10 Baseball Games Due to Extreme Heat in South Korea

By Yoo Jee-ho SEUL, Aug. 5 (Yonhap) -- All 10 professional baseball games scheduled for the next two evenings have been canceled due to extreme heat that has gripped the nation. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced that the five games slated for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and five more set for the same time Thursday will not be played as scheduled, as it mulls changes to rules guiding games played in severe heat. Those games were set to take place in Seoul, Incheon, Gwangju, Daegu and Busan.

Two games in Seoul and Gwangju, located some 270 kilometers south of the capital, were wiped out Tuesday, with both cities placed under the highest-level serious heat wave warning by the Korea Meteorological Administration. A serious heat wave warning is issued when apparent temperatures are projected to hit at least 38 C, or when daily maximums reach 39 C or above, in areas where the highest perceived temperature is 35 C or higher for two or more consecutive days.

Three other games in Incheon, lying just west of Seoul, and the two southeastern cities of Daegu and Busan proceeded as scheduled Tuesday. The KBO had announced earlier Tuesday that it would reserve the right to cancel games in cities under the most severe heat advisory and added games would be played in places facing lower levels of heat alerts, though the start of such games may be delayed by up to one hour.

During the game in Incheon between the LG Twins and the SSG Landers, however, 25 fans were treated for symptoms of heat-related illnesses. According to the home team Landers, one male fan fell unconscious after complaining of dizziness, but he was later taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition following CPR. The game was delayed by nine minutes. Another male fan briefly lost consciousness later in the game but recovered by the time first-aid workers arrived on the scene.

Incheon had not been placed under the highest-level warning Tuesday despite its proximity to Seoul.

The incidents in Incheon prompted the KBO to reconsider its rules regarding games in severe heat. The league said it will hold an emergency executive board meeting Thursday with the general managers of its 10 clubs and representatives from the players' association in attendance. They will discuss coming up with a more comprehensive set of rules on games in the dog days of summer while the regular season remains on hold.

The latest decision brings the number of games wiped out by heat this summer to 15.