Photo: KIA Tigers celebrate after the championship win. Credit: KIA Tigers.
The KIA Tigers 기아 타이거즈, the traditional powerhouse of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), won the 42nd Korean Series 한국시리즈 championship against the Samsung Lions 삼성 라이온즈 in a 4-1 series that concluded on October 28. Tigers catcher Kim Tae-gun 김태군, who hit 0.588 in the series, was named the most valuable player.
Anticipation had been high for the championship battle between two of the KBO’s most storied franchises. The Tigers, based in Gwangju 광주, won a league-leading 12th championship, extending the team’s unbroken record of victories in all twelve of its appearances in the Korean Series. The Lions, based in Daegu 대구, extended their own league-leading record of 18 appearances in the Korean Series, but were unable to add to the team’s eight championships, second only to the Tigers.
In addition to the team’s championship record, the Tigers have long been a symbol of Gwangju’s resistance against South Korea’s dictatorship. Until 1999, the Tigers were not permitted to play home games on May 18, the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising 광주항쟁, as the government feared that a home game could spark another protest. In the 2024 Korean Series, the Tigers clinched the series in a home victory - their first since 1987.
