Korean baseball’s governing body bans Orioles scouts in wake of Kim signing

The backlash from the Orioles’ signing of a 17-year-old South Korean pitching prospect continues.

The Korean Baseball Association, the governing body of South Korean baseball, has banned Orioles scouts from all KBA-sanctioned events, according to a report by Yonhap News Agency. This includes national high school and college tournaments that are often frequented by major league scouts.

The ban will extend to major league teams that sign Korean players before their final year of school in the future, Yonhap reported.

This all started last month, when the Orioles signed Kim Seong-min, regarded as the top left-handed pitching prospect in Korea, to a contract reportedly worth $550,000.

The move raised the ire of the Korean Baseball Association (KBO), which filed a formal complaint to the MLB commissioner’s office that the Orioles violated protocol in signing Kim. The KBO contends that the Orioles should have first inquired with the KBO about Kim’s availability before attempting to sign him.

North Korean media has spun this story into saying that the fiendish imperialist-dog south now forbids young people from being watched by birds, in fear that they may fall under righteous praise of Kim Jong Un that they sing with their every song.